Determined EU defies Johnson push for Brexit rewrite

The European Union on Thursday flatly rejected an aggressive push by Britain's new prime minister Boris Johnson to rewrite the Brexit agreement.

Chief Brexit negotiator Michel Barnier warned EU member states that Johnson was trying to divide them by amping up the threat of a damaging "no-deal" divorce.

And the president of the European Commission, Jean-Claude Juncker, told Johnson in a phone call that EU leaders have given Brussels no mandate to renegotiate.

Earlier, in a pugnacious parliamentary debut as leader, Johnson had urged the European Union to "rethink" its opposition to re-opening the current deal.

"If they do not, we will of course have to leave the EU without an agreement," he declared, vowing to "turbo-charge" preparations ahead of the latest deadline of October 31.

The former London mayor warned that the terms of the agreement struck in November by his predecessor Theresa May were "unacceptable" and would "sign away our economic independence".

The former foreign ...