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LONDON, Sept. 5-- Downing Street said British Prime Minister Boris Johnson planned to address the public late Thursday afternoon following a string of bruising defeats in the House of Commons, potentially leaving his "do or die" Brexit plans in tatters. MPs ignored his pleas to back his strategy, and instead voted in favour of a new bill that will force him to ask the European Parliament to extend Britain's membership of the European Union (EU) if no deal is agreed with Brussels by Oct. 31. Johnson has been insisting he would take Britain out of the EU by the end of October, with or without a deal. In the early hours of Thursday, politicians in the unelected House of Lords also gave their backing to the bill to rule out a no-deal. It dashed any hopes for Johnson that the upper chamber at Westminster would come to his rescue. In another massive blow for the prime minister, MPs also rejected his call for a snap general election. It prompted the Labour-supporting Daily Mirror newspaper Thursday to speculate that Johnson could become the shortest serving prime minister in history. | 
