British Prime Minister Boris Johnson has said he would "rather be dead in a ditch" than delay Brexit beyond 31 October, as he urged opposition MPs who oppose his plan to support an early election.

MPs in the House of Commons this week passed a bill that could stop Mr Johnson taking Britain out of the EU without a divorce deal with Brussels.

But they also rejected his call for a snap election to resolve the political deadlock that has characterised the past three years since the 2016 referendum vote for Brexit.

In a speech in northern England, Mr Johnson said "I'd rather be dead in a ditch" than ask the EU for a Brexit delay.

"We must come out of the EU on 31 October," the Conservative leader said, just hours after suffering a fresh blow with the resignation of his brother from government.

The speech, at a police academy in the city of Wakefield, also saw the apparent collapse of a police cadet standing behind him.

The event was intended to be the first step of an election campaign, before MPs rejected the poll in a vote on Wednesday night.

The vote left Mr Johnson in limbo, his Brexit plan in tatters but with no way out after his parliamentary majority was destroyed by a Conservative party rebellion over the issue.

As a result, his government announced it would try again to force an election with a House of Commons vote on Monday, and he challenged the opposition Labour party to back it.

British Prime Minister @BorisJohnson says he would "rather be dead in a ditch" than delay #Brexit further | Follow live updates: https://t.co/KRoUSXtVs6 pic.twitter.com/SWKtnZFGJp — RTÉ News (@rtenews) September 5, 2019

Read more:

Live: Johnson's government in Brexit battle

Latest Brexit headlines

He expressed regret about his brother Jo's resignation as a junior universities minister a few hours earlier, which only reinforced the sense of a government in crisis.

Jo Johnson had strongly opposed Brexit, and in his resignation statement blamed the "unresolvable tension" between "family loyalty and the national interest".

The prime minister paid tribute to his "fantastic" service, and acknowledged they disagreed on Brexit, "an issue that obviously divides families and divides everybody".

Jo Johnson announced he would not stand at the next election as an MP, another loss to the governing Conservative party, which this week lost its parliamentary majority.

Jo Johnson resigned as a junior minister this morning

It's been an honour to represent Orpington for 9 years & to serve as a minister under three PMs. In recent weeks I’ve been torn between family loyalty and the national interest - it’s an unresolvable tension & time for others to take on my roles as MP & Minister. #overandout — Jo Johnson (@JoJohnsonUK) September 5, 2019

The prime minister expelled 21 Tory MPs for rebelling over his Brexit plan, while another one dramatically defected to the pro-European Liberal Democrats.

The legislation against a "no deal" Brexit must still pass the House of Lords, but Mr Johnson has accepted that it almost certainly will become law.

It would force him to ask the EU to delay Brexit to 31 January should an EU summit in Brussels on 17-18 October fail to produce a deal, or if MPs fail to endorse "no deal".

One Tory rebel said the obsession within his former party with leaving the European Union has become "almost irrational".

Speaking on RTÉ's Morning Ireland, Alistair Burt said that some in the party "will do almost anything to leave" and that he was hurt about how careless some of his former colleagues had behaved with regard to Ireland and the backstop.

He said he has no regret about his vote and would do it again. Mr Burt said that after 32 years as an MP he did not want to seek re-election.