Suspending parliament illegal, court rules

LONDON: Britain’s House of Commons must convene without delay, Speaker John Bercow said last night, welcoming a ruling by the Supreme Court that Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s decision to suspend parliament was unlawful.

‘‘As the embodiment of our parliamentary democracy, the House of Commons must convene without delay. To this end, I will now consult the party leaders as a matter of urgency,’’ Bercow said in a statement.

Downing Street said it was ‘‘currently processing the verdict’’, the BBC reported.

Delivering its conclusions, the Supreme Court’s president, Lady Hale, said: ‘‘The effect on the fundamentals of our democracy was extreme.

‘‘The decision to advise Her Majesty to prorogue Parliament was unlawful because it had the effect of frustrating or preventing the ability of Parliament to carry out its constitutional functions without reasonable justification.’’

Lady Hale said the unanimous decision of the 11 justices was that Parliament had not been prorogued — the decision was null and of no effect — and it was for the Speakers of the Commons and Lords to decide what to do next.

Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn called on Johnson to call a new election after the ruling.

To huge cheers and chants of ‘‘Johnson out!’’, Corbyn said the British prime minister should become the leader to serve the shortest term and that Labour was ready to form a government.

‘‘I invite Boris Johnson, in the historic words, to ‘consider his position’,’’ Corbyn told delegates at the Labour Party’s annual conference in Brighton. — Agencies