In election pitch, UK PM Johnson backs his deal over no-deal Brexit

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson has put his Brexit withdrawal deal at the centre of his election campaign, rejecting an electoral pact with the Brexit Party that would mean he would have to embrace leaving the European Union without a deal.

Johnson had previously pledged to take Britain out of the European Union with or without a deal on Oct. 31, before lawmakers voted to force him to seek an extension until Jan. 31.

But he has abandoned the threat of a no-deal Brexit in his Conservative Party’s manifesto for the Dec. 12 election, the Times newspaper reported on Saturday.