Cherry slams PM's EU letter signature stunt as a ‘childish trick’

Scotland’s highest court will meet again at noon today to consider legal action initiated to ensure the Prime Minister complies with legislation compelling him to seek a delay.

Cherry, who brought the case alongside fellow QC Jolyon Maugham and businessman Vince Dale, said she was “delighted” Johnson had been forced into a climbdown, adding that he could yet be found in contempt of court if he is found to have attempted to “frustrate” the process.

READ MORE: Here's why Boris Johnson sent three separate letters to the EU

She added: “Despite his childish trick of not signing the letter and sending a contradictory covering letter, the EU, who are the grown-ups in the room, have accepted the request and are considering it.

“I am quite convinced that Boris Johnson would not have sought the extension had he not been forced by the court action to promise the highest court in Scotland that he would.

“Of course he is not renowned for keeping his word, and that is why the court continued our case until tomorrow, the first working day after the Benn Act deadline expired. The court will want to know what has happened and our legal team are instructed to update them fully.”

READ MORE: Blackford: How many other unsigned letters has Johnson sent?

The Prime Minister is poised to return to the Commons today to try to persuade MPs to back his Brexit deal – just 48 hours after he suffered his latest parliamentary defeat.

The order paper for today confirms the government will seek a meaningful vote on its withdrawal agreement and political declaration again.

Losing a meaningful vote could lead to the PM facing a motion of no confidence, paving the way for a General Election. However, the Speaker may disallow a meaningful vote because the government pulled the ballot on Saturday after MPs backed Sir Oliver Letwin’s amendment intended to avoid an “accidental” No-Deal Brexit on October 31.

The vote on Saturday meant the Benn Act was triggered and Johnson had to write to the EU requesting an extension to Article 50 – something he had insisted he would rather be “dead in a ditch” than do.

But Cherry warned Johnson’s failure to sign the letter, and his attached cover document, could land him in hot water with the Court of Session.

“Our legal team are also instructed to remind the court that as well as promising to comply with the letter of the Benn Act, the PM also promised not to seek to frustrate the purpose of the legislation,” she said.

“It will be for the court to decide whether his actions in failing to sign the letter of request and sending a letter setting out his contrary intentions are in breach of the undertakings he gave them or a contempt of court.

“The only motion we will make is to continue the case to later this week to ensure that the PM complies with his further obligations under the Benn Act, to agree to any extension proposed by the European Council in response to his letter and not to otherwise frustrate the purpose of the Benn Act.”

Opposition MPs are likely to put forward amendments to any government motion to approve Johnson’s Brexit deal, with the SNP demanding a General Election to be held before the end of any new extension period. The amendment by the party’s Westminster leader Ian Blackford also rejects the PM’s Brexit deal.

“Boris Johnson has been humiliated for the umpteenth time, with his damaging Brexit plans rejected by parliament over the weekend,” said Blackford. “The nonsense is this: Scotland is being ignored, and UK democracy is on the line.”

“The Tories are geared up to give England and Wales what they voted for. They’re primed to give Northern Ireland a special deal. But where stands Scotland in this sorry saga? Sidelined and shafted at every turn. It becomes clearer by the day why Scotland must be able to choose a better future for ourselves with independence.”

Labour have said they will push for a new EU referendum when the government brings its Brexit plans to the Commons. Shadow Brexit secretary Sir Keir Starmer left open the possibility that the party could back Johnson’s deal if a new national poll was attached to it.

READ MORE: EU27 will decide about extension after today's meaningful vote

Meanwhile, UK Government figures remained bullish about the PM’s deal, with Michael Gove insisting the UK will leave the EU by October 31 despite the government asking Brussels for a delay.

Asked if he could guarantee that the UK would leave the EU by Halloween, the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster said: “Yes, that’s our determined policy. We know that the EU want us to leave, we know that we have a deal that allows us to leave.”

Gove told Sky News’s Sophy Ridge On Sunday: “We are going to leave by October 31. We have the means and the ability to do so and people who – yesterday we had some people who voted for delay, voted explicitly to try to frustrate this process and to drag it out.

“I think actually the mood in the country is clear and the Prime Minister’s determination is absolute and I am with him in this, we must leave by October 31.”

Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab said he believed the government could get its deal through parliament.

With the Withdrawal Agreement Bill set to go to the Commons in the coming days, Raab told BBC One’s The Andrew Marr Show: “We seem to have the numbers in the House of Commons. A lot of people say ‘Get this done and move on’.”

Former Cabinet minister Amber Rudd, who quit the Tory whip, said she would back Johnson’s deal.