Johnson was asked on Thursday if he had lied to the monarch, after a Scottish court ruled the day before that his government’s advice to the Queen, which led to the five-week prorogation, was “unlawful.”
“Absolutely not,” Johnson replied, according to the UK Press Association. “The High Court in England plainly agrees with us but the Supreme Court will have to decide.”
“We need a Queen’s Speech, we need to get on and do all sorts of things at a national level,” Johnson added.
Johnson has always insisted that his decision was a routine device that allowed the government to start a new parliamentary session with a fresh legislative agenda. Critics describe it as an audacious move to reduce the amount of time available to the opposition to block a no-deal Brexit.
The Scottish judges disagreed with the government, saying Wednesday that the suspension was motivated by the “improper purpose of stymying Parliament.”
