With a united political front, there is still time for opponents of a no-deal Brexit to achieve a result

WHATEVER Boris Johnson’s objectives in securing the prorogation of Parliament may be, his political opponents should not think that the courts are likely to act as a bomb shelter for them.

The proper way for these issues to be resolved is through the political process. That process has not failed.

There has been plenty of opportunity already for opponents of a no-deal Brexit in Parliament to organise a change in the UK’s direction, but by their failure to unite they have dissipated much of it.

Even now, time remains, either before Parliament is prorogued or in the second half of October, so the courts should politely tell them to go back to the legislative chamber and sort it out.

Should the PM’s opponents succeed in bringing about this change of direction, there would be nothing even faintly undemocratic about it. The assertion that the will of the nation was expressed in the 2016 referendum remains what it has been from the beginning: baloney.

A referendum that was not even called to find out what the British people wanted on EU membership, which did not ask whether withdrawal was with or without a deal and which took no account of the likely occurrence of the constituent countries of the UK being divided on the issue, provides no clear indication of the will of the nation.

Ruth Davidson’s resignation as leader of the Scottish Conservatives is small wonder in the context of the last of these considerations. She and the country she represents were double-crossed by a cynical government that advised rejection of independence because this would require applying for EU membership as an independent country. Scotland duly rejected independence and voted Remain in the referendum, only to find that England has now decided to take the entire UK out of the EU.

Reversing all this by a decision of a majority of the democratically elected representatives of the UK cannot be considered undemocratic. The issue remains political and it is up to elected politicians to get their act together.

DR DAVID CAPPER School of Law Queen’s University Belfast