Image source, AFP/ Getty Images

It's been another busy day in British politics.

Boris Johnson said on Thursday afternoon that he would "rather be dead in a ditch" than ask the EU to delay Brexit beyond 31 October.

But lawyers representing businesswoman Gina Miller have said decision to suspend parliament is an unlawful abuse of power.

In the latest blow to hit the new Prime Minister, his brother Jo announced he is resigning as an MP and minister, saying he is "torn between family loyalty and the national interest".

Meanwhile, as the prospect of an early General Election looms, nearly 200,000 people have applied to register to vote in just 72 hours - and more than half of them are under 35.

MPs will get another chance to vote for an early election on Monday, the government has announced.

And former Labour MP Luciana Berger has joined the Liberal Democrats, saying the party is "unequivocal in wanting to stop Brexit".

That's the end of our live page coverage today.

Image source, Reuters

Leading judges are expected to announce their decision on Friday on the latest legal action brought over Prime Minister Boris Johnson's decision to suspend Parliament for five weeks.

Lord Chief Justice Lord Burnett and two other judges at the High Court in London have been urged to find that Mr Johnson's advice to the Queen on 28 August to prorogue Parliament for an "exceptional" length of time was an "unlawful abuse of power".

After hearing submissions on Thursday on an urgent judicial review application brought by businesswoman Gina Miller, Lord Burnett announced that the hearing would be adjourned until 10am on Friday.

The case brought by Ms Miller, who successfully challenged the government at the High Court in 2016 over the triggering of the Article 50 process to start the Brexit countdown, is supported by a number of other parties, including former prime minister Sir John Major.

The action was contested by the prime minister, whose lawyer argued that the advice given to the Queen was not unlawful and that, in any event, Ms Miller's claim was "academic".

Image source, Reuters

Former Prime Minister John Major says Boris Johnson should fire Dominic Cummings, the adviser behind his Brexit strategy.

"We have seen over-mighty advisors before. It is a familiar script. It always ends badly," Mr Major said in a speech at a Confederation of British Industry event in Glasgow.

"I offer the prime minister some friendly advice: get rid of these advisers before they poison the political atmosphere beyond repair. And do it quickly."

Mr Cummings, architect of the Vote Leave campaign during the Brexit referendum, is Mr Johnson's top adviser.

Mr Major, who supported the referendum campaign to stay in the EU, attacked Johnson's plan to suspend parliament for more than a month before Britain is due to leave the European Union.

"I cannot believe any previous prime minister – from Pitt, to Disraeli, to Churchill, to Thatcher – would have even contemplated such an action," he said.

Mr Major also criticised the government for publicly attacking critics of its Brexit strategy.

"This is behaviour I never thought to see from any British government, and it must stop," he added.

Labour's Yvette Cooper has accused Boris Johnson of an "abuse of power" for using a backdrop of police officers in a "political stunt".

The chairwoman of the Commons Home Affairs Committee said she would write to the Cabinet Secretary and West Yorkshire Police's chief constable.

The Labour MP said: "For Boris Johnson to make so many police stop their training and work to be part of his political stunt is an abuse of power.

"Police officers and trainees are overstretched and need to be able to get on with their job, not have to waste time listening to Boris Johnson's political press conference.

"For Boris Johnson to draw so many of them into a long, election-driven event like this is completely inappropriate and it is unfair on the people of West Yorkshire who are entitled to expect that their police are allowed to get on with the job of working and training to keep them safe.

"I am writing to the Cabinet Secretary as well as the West Yorkshire Chief Constable John Robins to ask how this has happened and what guidelines were followed."

Former chancellor Ken Clarke, who has been a Conservative MP for 49 years, says the Conservative party would have “broken up years ago” if Theresa May had managed the party in the same way as Boris Johnson.

As one of the so-called "big beasts" of politics, Mr Clarke was effectively thrown out of the Tory Party earlier this week.

Alongside 20 fellow Conservatives, he rebelled against Boris Johnson's government on Tuesday night, leading to the PM's first Commons defeat.

As the possibility of a general election looms, the Rushcliffe MP has already confirmed he will not be seeking re-election.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson talks to the BBC's Laura Kuenssberg about his brother Jo's resignation as both a Tory MP and minister.

"I want to thank Jo for everything he's done," Mr Johnson says. "We haven't seen eye to eye for a long time about the UK and the EU but on a huge domestic agenda I think he's done a great job."

Northern Ireland minister Nick Hurd has become the latest Tory MP to announce he will not stand at the next general election as he cited the "ongoing division" over Brexit.

Writing on Twitter, he thanked his constituents for "giving me the chance to represent them for the past 14 years."

In a statement, the Ruislip, Northwood and Pinner MP said: "Fourteen years ago, my intention was to serve in Parliament for as long as my constituents continued to elect me.

"However, much has changed since then. Politics is now dominated by the ongoing division over Brexit. More happily, my private life has been changed profoundly by the birth of my two youngest children.

"I now feel that it is time for me to make a change and embrace a new challenge. After a very great deal of thought, I have decided not to stand again as a candidate at the next general election."

Danny Shaw
BBC Home Affairs Correspondent

Mark Burns-Williamson, the West Yorkshire Police and Crime Commissioner, has told BBC News that Boris Johnson has "abused" the position of the force by making a speech in front of rows of trainee police officers.

Mr Burns-Williamson, who's a Labour politician, said: "These officers shouldn't have been used.

"It was clearly a political speech about Brexit and issues surrounding the General Election. He's abused their position."

The PCC said although he knew about the prime minister's visit he wasn't consulted about it or aware of the details and did not attend.

Mr Burns-Williamson said he had sent a message to the Chief Constable of West Yorkshire Police, John Robins, seeking an explanation. "I told him it was a mistake," he said.

West Yorkshire Police have been contacted for a statement.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson has said he'd "rather be dead in a ditch" than go to ask Brussels for a delay to Brexit.

He was responding to a question from a reporter after making a speech in front of police recruits in West Yorkshire.

Speaking in West Yorkshire this afternoon, Mr Johnson accused Parliament of having "absolutely torpedoed" the UK's negotiating position with the EU by working to prevent a no-deal Brexit.

He reiterated his call for Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn to back his efforts for a general election to be held on 15 October.

The PM added: "I really don't see how we can have a situation where the British ability to negotiate is absolutely torpedoed by Parliament in this way with powers of the British people handed over to Brussels so we can be kept incarcerated in the EU without that actually being put to the people in the form of a vote."

Dominic Casciani
Home Affairs Correspondent

Boris Johnson warned the cabinet on 28 August that there was a “high chance” that he would fail to get a new deal with the European Union over Brexit.

The warning is contained in a minute of a cabinet conference-call that day, in which the prime minister briefed colleagues about the progress of talks with Brussels.

The minutes, disclosed in the Brexit court cases today in England and Scotland, include a summary of final remarks from Mr Johnson to cabinet ministers.

“Concluding the prime minister said that progress with the EU should not be exaggerated but it was substantial,” reads the document. “Whilst there was a good chance that a deal could be secured, there was also a high chance that it could not… The Cabinet took note.”

Days earlier, in a BBC interview at the G7 summit, Mr Johnson had only said that a deal was “touch and go”. Earlier in the summer he said the chances of leaving the EU without a deal over trade and security were a “million to one”. Here’s the document:

Image source, Government papers

Jacob Rees-Mogg has been criticised by MPs for comparing a doctor who had been advising the government as part of Operation Yellowhammer to the discredited Andrew Wakefield. Mr Wakefield is widely blamed for the scare over the MMR jab.

On Monday, David Nicholl, a consultant neurologist who is pro-Remain, called an LBC phone-in show and asked the leader of the Commons what mortality rate he would accept if the UK were to leave the EU without a deal.

During a Commons business statement, Mr Rees-Mogg told MPs: "What he had to say, I will repeat it, is as irresponsible as Dr Wakefield in threatening that people will die because we leave the European Union.

"What level of irresponsibility was that?"

Shadow health secretary Jonathan Ashworth said Mr Rees-Mogg's comments were "irresponsible", while Liberal Democrat MP Dr Sarah Wollaston said they were "absolutely disgusting".

Some critics of Boris Johnson have tweeted about how the prime minister handled his speech when one of the police officers standing behind him appeared to become unwell and sat down.

Mr Johnson turned around to ask if the officer was alright, before continuing his speech for another minute.

Shadow home secretary Diane Abbott tweeted:

Conservative MP Sir Roger Gale has welcomed a small boost to his Twitter followers, after becoming more well known following comments he made earlier this week.

Sir Roger made a fierce attack on No 10 adviser Dominic Cummings, who he called an "unelected, foul-mouthed oaf throwing his weight around".

The prime minister's lead Brexit negotiator, David Frost, met EU officials yesterday for talks - and details have now emerged of what he asked for. More talks are planned for tomorrow.

According to the BBC's Brussels reporter Adam Fleming, the UK wants the backstop part of the Brexit deal "radically reduced" to include only the articles dealing with citizens rights, the single electricity market and the Common Travel Area.

There would be a general commitment to find operable solutions to the Irish border later, with the details to be agreed by the EU and UK's Joint Committee after Brexit.

Our correspondent adds that the words being used on the EU side are "exasperating" and "disastrous".

House of Commons
Parliament

Labour MP Stephen Doughty asked for an explanation for why the prime minister attended a "clearly party political electioneering stunt" in Wakefield with police officers.

Raising a point of order in the Commons, he said: "This is clearly entirely inappropriate."

Mr Doughty said concerns have been raised before about a lack of police resources.

He added: "I think serious questions need to be asked about the use of police time in this way, potential politicisation of the police."

Turning to look at the officer in question, the PM asked: "Are you alright?"

He then added: "Oh, I'm so sorry.

"That is a signal for me actively to wind up."