Boris Johnson dragged Britain into constitutional uproar on Wednesday after announcing plans to suspend parliament for five weeks, daring opponents of his Brexit strategy to vote down his government in a sharp escalation of tensions in Westminster.
This was approved by the Queen.
European sources have warned that Boris Johnson’s move to suspend parliament for five weeks has increased the chances of a no-deal Brexit, while the European parliament’s coordinator on Brexit, Guy Verhofstadt, said the move was unlikely to deliver a stable future relationship . He said “Taking back control has never looked so sinister.” (The Guardian).
The move, designed to thwart MPs’ efforts to stop a no-deal Brexit on October 31, was described by John Bercow, Speaker of the Commons, as a “constitutional outrage”. (FT) T
The British Press, on Thursday carried the following front pages:
POLITICO writes “In a day which saw the apolitical Queen Elizabeth II, after 67 years on the throne, dragged irreversibly into politics, perhaps the most significant intervention came from Speaker John Bercow, the final arbiter of House of Commons rules. He called Johnson’s decision “a constitutional outrage” and said it was “vital that our elected Parliament has its say” on Brexit.
The Speaker is traditionally neutral in political matters, and Mr Bercow said he had had no contact from Downing Street over Mr Johnson’s move. “Shutting down parliament would be an offence against the democratic process and the rights of parliamentarians as the people’s elected representatives,” he added.
Opposition MPs took that as a cue that Bercow will do his utmost to facilitate MPs who want to ensure that the majority view in the Commons — that a no-deal Brexit should not happen — is heard.”
Former Chancellor Philip Hammond, who has vowed to block a no-deal Brexit, said on Twitter: “It would be a constitutional outrage if Parliament were prevented from holding the government to account at a time of national crisis. Profoundly undemocratic.”
Tory MP Dominic Grieve, who has been central to the plots to prevent a no-deal, said suspending parliament would be “outrageous.”
“If the prime minister persists with this and doesn’t back off, then I think the chances are that his administration will collapse,” he told BBC Radio 5 Live. “There is plenty of time to do that if necessary [and] I will certainly vote to bring down a Conservative government that persists in a course of action which is so unconstitutional.” (POLITICO)
Scottish Tory leader Ruth Davidson was said to be poised to quit following repeated clashes with the prime minister on the direction of the party. (The Independent)
Confronted with the charge that it was an affront to democracy, Johnson told broadcasters: “That is completely untrue. If you look at what we’re doing, we’re bringing forward a new legislative program on crime, on hospitals, making sure that we have the education funding that we need. And there will be ample time on both sides of that crucial October 17 [European Council] summit, ample time in parliament for MPs to debate the EU, to debate Brexit and all the other issues.”
The linkage to the domestic agenda, where Johnson has unveiled a raft of crowd-pleasing measures, points to a thinly veiled interest in an early election to cement his authority and increase his majority in the Commons (currently just one, and only with the support of Northern Ireland’s Democratic Unionist Party.)
Johnson may believe forcing MPs to take him on, either by legislating for a Brexit extension, or via a vote of no confidence, will precipitate an election that he can fight as a champion of people (who voted for Brexit three years ago) versus parliament, which he could claim was trying to block not just the U.K.’s departure from the EU, but a popular domestic agenda too. Campaigning on a promise to deliver Brexit “do or die” could also have the benefit, for his Conservatives, of nullifying the threat of Nigel Farage’s Brexit Party.
Farage called the suspension “a positive move” that made an election more likely, and dared Johnson to go for no deal rather than pursue the Withdrawal Agreement. “If he does [continue with the existing deal,] then the Brexit Party will fight him every inch of the way. But if he now wants a clean-break Brexit, then we would like to help him secure a large majority in a general election,” Farage said, hinting at a potentially formidable electoral pact of the pro-Brexit parties.
The Financial Times said “Boris Johnson has detonated a bomb under the constitutional apparatus of the United Kingdom. The prime minister’s request to the Queen to suspend parliament for up to five weeks, ostensibly to prepare a new legislative programme, is without modern precedent. It is an intolerable attempt to silence parliament until it can no longer halt a disastrous crash-out by the UK from the EU on October 31. The seat of British democracy, long admired worldwide, is being denied a say on the most consequential decision facing the country in more than four decades. So, too, are the British people — in whose name Mr Johnson claims to be acting. It is time for parliamentarians to bring down his government in a no-confidence vote, paving the way for an election in which the people can express their will.”
Via Sky News / Financial Times/ The Independent / Metro / POLITICO
