IN BRIEF (Page 4)

United Kingdom

John Bercow vows to thwart PM over Brexit law

The speaker of Britain's lower house of parliament has made it abundantly clear he is not going quietly into retirement. House of Commons Speaker John Bercow used a speech on Thursday night to warn Prime Minister Boris Johnson to expect Parliament to take aggressive action to make sure its legislation designed to block a "no-deal" Brexit is respected. He says he will allow "procedural creativity" in making sure Johnson does not violate the new law, which took effect this week. It requires Johnson to ask the European Union for an extension of the Oct 31 Brexit deadline if no deal is reached by mid-October. Bercow's comments came after Johnson denied he had lied to Queen Elizabeth II when requesting a suspension of parliament this month.