This Parliament is now dead and you lot are just a disgrace!
Attorney General’s Commons outburst
ATTORNEY General Geoffrey Cox savaged Remainer MPs in a furious attack yesterday, branding them a “disgrace”.
In an impassioned defence of the Government’s bid to deliver Brexit by October 31, Mr Cox said the current impasse had created a “dead” Parliament.
The Commons saw fiery exchanges as it reopened after the bombshell Supreme Court ruling that Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s suspension of Parliament was unlawful.
The Attorney General was the first Cabinet minister to address the Commons.
He immediately berated MPs on the opposition benches and said: “This Parliament is a dead Parliament, it should no longer sit.
“It has no moral right to sit on these green benches.”
Accused
He then accused Remainers of lacking the courage to face voters in a general election after repeatedly blocking Brexit.
Mr Cox added: “Twice they have been asked to make the electorate decide upon whether they should continue to sit in their seats while they block 17.4 million people’s votes.This is a disgrace.
“Let me tell them the truth, they can vote no-confidence at any time but they are too cowardly. They could agree to a motion to allow this House to dissolve, but they are too cowardly.
“This Parliament should have the courage to face the electorate but it won’t because so many of them are really all about preventing us leaving the European Union. But the time is coming when even these turkeys won’t be able to prevent Christmas.”
The Attorney General hinted that the Government is considering introducing a one-line Bill to hold an election on a fixed date. He also told Tory turncoat Phillip Lee, who defected to the Liberal Democrats, that he should be “on his knees to his own constituents, begging their forgiveness for his betrayal”.
And he branded the Labour Party a “shower” over its decision to twice oppose an early general election.
He said: “If the opposition does not wish to allow the Government to govern, then its morally correct thing to do is to seek to have an election.
“What I object to here is that this party, and this side of the House, has repeatedly sought to block that and to prevent the electorate from having its say when this Parliament is as dead as dead can be.”
Brexiteers last night hailed Mr Cox’s “outstanding” assessment of the situation and said voters must be given an immediate chance to shake up Parliament.
But the savage attack prompted uproar in the chamber as opposition MPs shouted down the Attorney General.
Former Tory Cabinet minister
Amber Rudd said she had “concerns about the Attorney General constantly saying that this Parliament is dead”.
Mr Cox responded: “I assure her that if I hadn’t been driven to this language I would never have used it.”
Former Brexit minister Suella Braverman backed the Attorney General.
She said: “Geoffrey Cox is absolutely right. This is why we need a general election.”
Steve Baker, chairman of the European Research Group of Eurosceptic Tories, said the intervention was “outstanding”.
He added: “It is time for a general election. Now.”
Reset
DUP MP Ian Paisley said: “Geoffrey Cox put his finger on it. This Parliament is a disgrace. It’s totally dead. The sooner we push the reset button and let a new Parliament take over the better.”
Mr Cox was called to the Commons after SNP MP Joanna Cherry, who was behind one of the legal challenges to the Government’s decision to suspend Parliament, demanded he faced MPs to discuss the legal advice he gave about the prorogation.
The Government’s top lawyer dismissed demands for him to quit after the Supreme Court ruling.
He insisted the Government acted “in good faith” when it made the decision to prorogue Parliament.
A Number 10 spokeswoman said Mr Johnson still had confidence in Mr Cox and that no officials or ministers had offered their resignations.