Brexit chaos: PM’s plans voted down

LONDON: The simmering showdown between UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson and the Parliament over Brexit has come to a head as MPs delivered three defeats to the Government’s plans for leaving the European Union.

This was before being sent home early yesterday for a contentious fiveweek suspension of the legislature.

In a session that ran well past midnight on Monday, Parliament enacted a law to block a nodeal Brexit next month, ordered the Government to release private communications about its Brexit plans and rejected Johnson’s call for a snap election.

Parliament was then suspended — or prorogued — at the Government’s request until October 14, a drastic move that gives Johnson a respite from rebellious MPs as he plots his next move.

Opponents accuse him of trying to avoid democratic scrutiny.

What is usually a solemn, formal prorogation ceremony erupted into raucous scenes as opposition MPs in the House of Commons chamber shouted ‘‘Shame on you’’ and held up signs reading ‘‘Silenced’’.

Parliament’s suspension ended a day of blows to the embattled Johnson. First an oppositionbacked measure designed to stop Britain from leaving the EU on October 31 without a deal became law after receiving the formal assent of the Queen. It compels the Government to ask the EU for a threemonth delay if no deal has been agreed by October 19.

Johnson says the country’s delayed exit must happen at the end of October, with or without an agreement. But many MPs fear a nodeal Brexit would be economically devastating, and are determined to stop him.

‘‘I will not ask for another delay,’’ Johnson said. But he has few easy ways out of it. His options — all of them extreme — include disobeying the law, which could land him in court or even prison, and resigning so someone else would have to ask for a delay.

MPs also demanded the Government release, by today, emails and text messages among aides and officials relating to suspending Parliament and planning for Brexit, amid allegations the suspension is being used to circumvent democracy. Under parliamentary rules, it is obliged to release the documents.

In a statement, the Government said it would ‘‘consider the implications of this vote and respond in due course’’.

Then yesterday, MPs for a second time rebuffed Johnson’s request for an early election, which he called ‘‘the only way to break the deadlock in the House.’’.

Opposition parties voted against the measure or abstained, denying Johnson the twothirds majority he needed. They want to block a nodeal departure before agreeing to an election.

‘‘We’re eager for an election, but as keen as we are, we are not prepared to inflict the disaster of a nodeal on our communities, our jobs, our services, or indeed our rights,’’ Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn said.

The EU says Britain has not produced any concrete proposals for replacing the contentious ‘‘backstop,’’ a provision in the withdrawal agreement reached by Johnson’s predecessor Theresa May designed to ensure an open border between EU member Ireland and Northern Ireland. — AP