The UK prime minister says it is not "not true" that he mislead the Queen over intentions to suspend parliament so it could not scruntise his Brexit plans
ADVERTISEMENTBoris Johnson has denied lying to Queen Elizabeth over the reasons for suspending parliament for five weeks after a court ruled his decision to do so was unlawful.
Parliament was prorogued on Monday until 14th October in a move opposition MPs argued was designed to thwart their attempts to scrutinise his plans for leaving the European Union.
But Scotland's highest court of appeal ruled on Wednesday that the suspension was not lawful and was intended to stop parliament holding the executive to account and he had mislead the Queen when he asked her for permission in August.
Read more: Boris Johnson's suspension of parliament is unlawful, a Scottish court rules
Johnson said the accusation of lying was "absolutely not" true and that his government had appealed to the Supreme Court in London to overturn the decision.
"I'm not going to quarrel or criticise the judges," he told reporters. "It's very important that we respect the independence of the judiciary. They are learned people."
He said he was hopeful the government would reach a divorce deal with the EU next month.
Read more: Bitesize Brexit: A summary of Boris Johnson's terrible week in parliament
"I've been around the European capitals talking to our friends - I think we can see the rough area of a landing space,of how you could do it," he said. "It will be hard, but I think we can get there."
The official position of the Johnson government is that they want to get a new deal with the EU that does not include the Irish backstop but are prepared to go for a no-deal Brexit if necessary.
But Amber Rudd, who quit as a member of Johnson’s cabinet earlier this week, countered this in an interview with the Sunday Times last week where she said there seemed to be little work going on behind the scenes to negotiate a new deal.