Boris Johnson denies lying to the queen in order to shut down Parliament

The Royal Family

Boris Johnson and Queen Elizabeth II

• UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson denies lying to the queen as part of his plan to shut down parliament.
• Johnson advised the queen to suspend parliament for five weeks, in the longest shutdown in the modern era.
• A Scottish court this week ruled that the decision was unlawful.
• Opponents are calling on Johnson to re-open the doors of Parliament.
• Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.

Boris Johnson has denied lying to the queen in order to shut down the UK parliament, after a court ruled that his decision to suspend proceedings for five weeks was unlawful.

Johnson is under pressure to re-open parliament after the Scottish court of session found that his decision to close down parliament was "motivated by the improper purpose of stymying parliament... [and] is unlawful".

However, when asked whether he had lied to the monarch, the prime minister told journalists in central London: "Absolutely not."

Johnson insisted that the decision was purely about allowing the government to put together a new programme for government, which will be set out in a Queen's speech in October.

The UK Supreme Court is due to take a final decision on the matter next Tuesday.

"The High Court in England plainly agrees with us but the Supreme Court will have to decide," Johnson said.

"We need a Queen's Speech, we need to get on and do all sorts of things at a national level."

Johnson insisted he remained "very hopeful" that he will get a deal with the EU.

"I think we can see the rough area of a landing space, of how you can do it - it will be tough, it will be hard, but I think we can get there," he said.

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