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UK Parliament Can't Stop Brexit, Johnson to Tell Macron, Merkel

Reuters

   LONDON - Prime Minister Boris Johnson willtell French President
   Emmanuel Macron and German ChancellorAngela Merkel that his nation's
   Parliament cannot stop Brexitand a new deal must be agreed if Britain
   is to avoid leaving theEU without one.

   In his first trip abroad as leader, Johnson is due to meethis European
   counterparts ahead of a G-7 summit on Aug. 24-26 inBiarritz, France.

   He will say that Britain is leaving the European Union onOct. 31, with
   or without a deal, and that Parliamentcannot block that, according to a
   Downing Street source.

   The United Kingdom is heading toward a constitutionalcrisis at home and
   a showdown with the EU as Johnson hasrepeatedly vowed to leave the bloc
   on Oct. 31 without a dealunless it agrees to renegotiate the Brexit
   divorce.

   Refusing to reconsider

   After more than three years of Brexit dominating EU affairs,the bloc
   has repeatedly refused to reopen the WithdrawalAgreement, which
   includes an Irish border insurance policy thatJohnson's predecessor,
   Theresa May, agreed to in November.

   The prime minister is coming under pressure from politiciansacross the
   political spectrum to prevent a disorderly departure,with opposition
   leader Jeremy Corbyn vowing to bring downJohnson's government in early
   September to delay Brexit.

   It is, however, unclear if lawmakers have the unity or powerto use the
   British Parliament to prevent a no-deal Brexit onOct. 31 -- likely to
   be the United Kingdom's most significantmove since World War II.

   Opponents of no-deal say it would be a disaster for what wasonce one of
   the West's most stable democracies. A disorderlydivorce, they say,
   would hurt global growth, send shock wavesthrough financial markets and
   weaken London's claim to be theworld's preeminent financial center.

   Brexit supporters say there may be short-term disruptionfrom a no-deal
   exit but that the economy will thrive if cut freefrom what they cast as
   a doomed experiment in integration thathas led to Europe falling behind
   China and the United States.

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