'A disgrace': MPs react to Boris Johnson saying Brexit would honour murdered MP Jo Cox

Boris Johnson is facing a furious backlash after he told MPs the best way to honour the memory of murdered MP Jo Cox was to deliver on Brexit.

There was uproar in the Commons as the Prime Minister repeatedly berated MPs for "sabotaging" Brexit, accusing them of passing a "surrender act".

There was uproar in the Commons on Wednesday as the Prime Minister repeatedly berated MPs for "sabotaging" Brexit, accusing them of passing a "surrender act".

In highly charged scenes, he challenged the opposition parties to table a vote of no confidence or back a general election and face a "day of reckoning" with the voters.

But there was fury after he brushed aside an appeal by Labour MP Paula Sherriff to curb his "violent" and "inflammatory" language.

She said that like Ms Cox - who was killed by a man with far-right sympathies just days before the 2016 referendum - many MPs faced death threats from people using the same sort of language as the Prime Minister.

Mr Johnson retorted he had "never heard such humbug in all my life".

Jo Cox MP was killed by a man with far-right sympathies just days before the 2016 referendum.

'Get Brexit done'

There was further outrage when he told another Labour MP the best way to honour Ms Cox - an ardent Remainer - was to "get Brexit done".

First Minister Nicola Sturgeon said she was “disgusted” by Mr Johnson’s conduct at the Commons despatch box adding, "there is a gaping moral vacuum where the office of Prime Minister used to be."Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn said the PM's language "was indistinguishable from the far right", while his Liberal Democrats counterpart Jo Swinson said Mr Johnson's comments were "a disgrace".

"He heard the pleas of MPs, many of whom who have faced death threats, to moderate his language and dismissed their concerns with the same callous bluster that has become his trademark," Ms Swinson said.

Former cabinet minister Amber Rudd - who quit the Government and the Tory Party over Mr Johnson's approach to Brexit - told ITV's Peston programme the premier's remarks were "dishonest and dangerous".

When asked if a referendum was a better option than a general election, Ms Rudd said: "Better? Probably yes ... probably better than a general election, because my concern is a general election wouldn't resolve anything.

"If we end up not being able to resolve this, the last resort would have to be a referendum."

'Bit sick'

Ms Cox's widower, Brendan Cox, said he felt "a bit sick" at the way her name was being used.

"The best way to honour Jo is for all of us (no matter our views) to stand up for what we believe in, passionately and with determination. But never to demonise the other side and always hold onto what we have in common," he tweeted.

Despite Mr Johnson's attacks, opposition parties again made clear they would not agree to an election until they were sure the threat of a no-deal Brexit on October 31 was off the table.

Downing Street said if opposition MPs did not take up the Prime Minister's offer to table a no-confidence motion, the Government would take it as a mandate to press on with Brexit.

A No 10 source added: "The public has seen enough of Parliament delaying and dithering and preventing things happening. It is put up or shut up time."

Mr Johnson was forced back to Westminster, cutting short his visit to the United Nations General Assembly in New York, after the Supreme Court ruled on Tuesday his five-week suspension of Parliament was illegal.

The Government will, however, ask MPs on Thursday to agree to a three-day break for the Commons next week while the Tories stage their annual party conference in Manchester.

But amid the angry mood at Westminster, the opposition parties appear unlikely to agree, meaning Mr Johnson could be forced to rearrange his keynote speech due to be held on the final day on Wednesday.