UK: 'I don't want a delay' – Johnson to press on as EU decides on Brexit extension

W/S Prime Minister's Questions at House of Commons in London
SOT, Kenneth Clarke, Independent MP and Father of the House of Commons: "[My] right honourable friend achieved the first landmark of his premiership by getting this House to vote by a comfortable majority in favour of Brexit. If he now proceeds in the reasonable and statesmanlike way I would hope for, then he can go on a month or two's time to actually deliver Brexit before having a general election on the sensible basis of a mandate for a government on the fuller negotiations that will follow. So will my right honourable friend firstly get over his disappointment and accept that October the 31st is now Halloween, it is devoid of any symbolic or political content, and will fade away into historical memory very rapidly. So will he, having reflected, let us know that he is about to table a reasonable timetable motion so that this House could complete the task of finalising the details of the Withdrawal Bill so we can move on, on a basis which might begin to reunite the nation once again for the future." *MULTIPLE SHOTS AT SOURCE*
W/S House of Commons *CUTAWAY*
SOT, Boris Johnson, UK Prime Minister: "Alas, we cannot now know what the EU will do in response to the request from Parliament - I stress it wasn't my request, but a request from Parliament - to ask to ask for a delay. We are awaiting, Mr. Speaker, their reaction to Parliament's request for a delay. I think myself, I must respectfully disagree with my right honourable friend, perhaps not for the first time, I think it would still be very much in the best interests of this country and of democracy to get Brexit done by October the 31st. I will wait to see what our EU friends and partners say in response, both to the request for a delay from Parliament and also to the insistence by Parliament that they want a delay. I don't think the people of this country want a delay. I don't want a delay. I intend to press on. But I'm afraid we now have to see what our EU friends will decide on our behalf. And that is the result of the decision that he took last night." *MULTIPLE SHOTS AT SOURCE*
W/S House of Commons *CUTAWAY*
SOT, Jeremy Corbyn, Labour party leader: "He once said the whole withdrawal bill as signed by the previous prime minister is a terrible treaty, and yet this deal is even worse than that. Even if he's not that familiar with it, does the Prime Minister accept that Parliament should have the necessary time to improve on this worse than terrible treaty?" *MULTIPLE SHOTS AT SOURCE*
W/S Corbyn sits, Prime Minister Boris Johnson stands
SOT, Boris Johnson, UK Prime Minister: "Mr. Speaker, it is this government and this party that delivers on the mandate of the people. And I listened carefully to what the right honourable gentleman just said. But he said it before, Mr. Speaker. They said that we couldn't open the withdrawal agreement, and we did. They said we couldn't get rid of the backstop, and we did. They said they we couldn't get a new deal, Mr. Speaker, and we did. And then they said that we'd never get it through parliament. And they did their utmost, didn't they, they did their utmost to stop it going through parliament and we got it through parliament last night, Mr. Speaker. And this is the party and this is the government that delivers on its promises." *MULTIPLE SHOTS AT SOURCE*
W/S Home Secretary Priti Patel starting statement *CUTAWAY*
SOT, Priti Patel, British Home Secretary: "At the scene, Essex police discovered a lorry container with 39 bodies inside. Early indication suggests that 38 of those found were adults, and one teenager. From what police have been able to ascertain so far, is that the vehicle is believed to be from Bulgaria and entered the country at Holyhead, north Whales, one of the main ports of ferries from Ireland on the 19th of October. Essex police, Mr. Speaker, have now launched a murder investigation. A 25 year-old man from Northern Ireland has been arrested on suspicion of murder. He remains in police custody as inquiries will now continue." *MULTIPLE SHOTS AT SOURCE*
W/S House of Commons *CUTAWAY*
SOT, Priti Patel, British Home Secretary: "While the nationalities of the victims are not yet known, I have asked my officials to work closely with the investigation, providing all the assistance we can in these horrific circumstances. This is on top of the joint working that's taking place already between the police, border force, immigration enforcement, the national crime agency, and other law enforcement agencies, to ascertain exactly how this incident occurred." *MULTIPLE SHOTS AT SOURCE*
W/S House of Commons
SCRIPT
UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson said his government would press on preparations for leaving the EU by October 31, on Wednesday during Prime Minister's Questions in the House of Commons in London, while he waits for the European Union to respond to the Brexit extension request he sent.
"Alas, we cannot now know what the EU will do in response to the request from Parliament - I stress it wasn't my request, but a request from Parliament - to ask to ask for a delay. We are awaiting, Mr. Speaker, their reaction to Parliament's request for a delay," he said. "I think it would still be very much in the best interests of this country and of democracy to get Brexit done by October the 31st."
He added, "I don't think the people of this country want a delay. I don't want a delay. I intend to press on. But I'm afraid we now have to see what our EU friends will decide on our behalf. And that is the result of the decision that he took last night."
British Home Secretary Priti Patel also commented on the lorry containing 39 bodies, which was found in Essex on Wednesday, saying, "The vehicle is believed to be from Bulgaria and entered the country at Holyhead, north Whales, one of the main ports of ferries from Ireland on the 19th of October. Essex police, Mr. Speaker, have now launched a murder investigation. A 25 year-old man from Northern Ireland has been arrested on suspicion of murder. He remains in police custody as inquiries will now continue."