Brexit. Why do Brits want Out of the EU?

NEW YORK (Reuters) - The United Kingdom Supreme Court ruled on Tuesday that Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s decision to shut down parliament in the run-up to Brexit was unlawful, a decision that thrusts Britain’s exit from the European Union into deeper turmoil.

Here is Johnson’s reaction, as told to reporters in New York where he is attending the United Nations General Assembly:

“As the law currently stands, the UK leaves the EU on October 31st come what may but the exciting thing for us now is to get a good deal - and that is what we are working on.

And to be honest it is not made much easier by this kind of stuff in parliament or in the courts.

Obviously getting a deal is not made much easier against this background but we are going to get on and do it.

As the law stands, we leave on October 31 and I am very hopeful that we will get a deal and I think what the people of the country want is to see parliamentarians coming together, working in the national interest to get this thing done and that is what we are going to do.”

Donald Trump has said it would be "terrible" if Boris Johnson's Brexit plan was blocked .

We are very keen that there be a deal, that the UK should be able to leave the European Union in an orderly fashion. That’s in Ireland’s interest, it’s in Britain’s interest too.

But there are certain guarantees that we expect to be honoured; that there won’t be a hard border between North and South.... that North-South cooperation will continue as envisaged by the Good Friday Agreement, that what was given to us by the British government back in December 2017.

The prime minister met with Taoiseach Leo Varadkar at the UN General Assembly today. They discussed the Brexit talks and the ideas that the UK has been putting forward, including on the issue of consent.

The prime minister was clear that the UK would be leaving on 31 October and said that he was cautiously optimistic that we would be able to do so through negotiating a deal which is acceptable to both sides.

The prime minister underlined his steadfast commitment to the Belfast (Good Friday) Agreement and said that we will never place infrastructure, checks or controls at the border.

They agreed on the vital importance of ensuring the peace, prosperity and security of Northern Ireland. The leaders agreed to stay in close contact in coming days.

I think it is only fair to say that Boris is the Pep Guardiola of British politics.

Words like humiliation are good journalistic hyperbole.

No, look, the prime minister is a born winner ... he was mayor of London twice, he beat Ken Livingstone twice.

Jacob Rees-Mogg, the leader of the Commons, reportedly described the supreme court judgement as a "constitutional coup" when cabinet ministers spoke on a conference call last night.

In many ways I believe it was just that. The UK Supreme Court is a fairly recent addition to British governance and many past PMs had done the same thing as Johnson and under similar circumstances.

LONDON (Reuters) - Prime Minister Boris Johnson on Thursday defended his decision to use the term “surrender act” when speaking about a new law that forces him to seek a Brexit delay if he fails to secure a deal to leave the European Union.

At a meeting of the 1922 Committee of Conservative lawmakers on Thursday, Johnson won support for his argument that the law undermined his negotiating position in Brussels and that he was within his rights to describe is as a “surrender act”.

Johnson was criticized by opposition lawmakers and some in his own Conservative Party for using such language on Wednesday, with some saying it not only deepened divisions but also could incite violence against those working in parliament.

A Conservative lawmaker said Johnson told the committee: “It IS a surrender act,” arguing that it hurt Britain’s negotiating stance with the EU. But the prime minister added that he took threats to lawmakers very seriously.

The lawmaker also quoted Johnson as saying that he could still secure an agreement to leave the EU by Oct. 31, but that negotiations with Ireland on customs were “difficult”.

Johnson hails what he describes as progress in the Brexit talks, but EU officials say Britain has yet to come up with “legal and operational” proposals to solve the thorniest issue of customs arrangements for the new border between British province of Northern Ireland and Ireland after Brexit.