You’re a tyrant, MP Mhairi tells PM Boris
Paisley MP Mhairi Black has accused Prime Minister Boris Johnson of acting like a “tyrant” as thousands of Renfrews h i re residents sign a petition against the suspension of Parliament.
More than 3,200 people from the region have visited the UK Government petitions website to back a call for the House of Commons to stay open to debate Brexit.
New PM Boris Johnson announced a five- week shut- down, or prorogue Pa r l i a m e n t , dur i n g September and October, which critics say is an attack on democracy.
As of yesterday morning, 1.5 million people across the UK had signed the Do Not Prorogue Parliament petition — with 120,000 signatures coming from Scotland.
Nearly 1,700 people in Gavin Newlands’ Paisley and Renfrewshire North constituency, and 1,543 people in Ms Black’s Paisley and Renfrewshire South constituency, have put their name to the cause.
Ms Black insists Mr Johnson’s actions show how out of touch the UK Government is.
She said: “Boris Johnson is acting like a tyrant.
“This unelected Prime Minister has no mandate to shut down Parliament.
“Boris Johnson’s actions prove yet again just how outdated and ridiculous Westminster is.
“It’s time for the people of Scotland to decide whether they want to be part of Boris Britain or determine their own future as an independent country.”
The petition — created on the August 6 — began gaining signatures on Wednesday evening after the prime minister’s decision to suspend Parliament.
It had gathered more than 1.3m signatures as of 10am yesterday morning.
It said: “Parliament must not be prorogued or dissolved unless and until the Article 50 period has been sufficiently extended or the UK’s intention to withdraw from the EU has been cancelled.”
The decision to suspend Parliament has also sparked protests and a legal challenge.
The government said the five- week suspension will still allow time to debate Brexit.
However, opponents say the suspension is longer than normal.
Residents in the Edinburgh North and Leith constituency were the most enthusiastic about signing the anti-prorogation petition — some 7,210.
Figures show that roughly 78 per cent of people in Edinburgh North and Leith voted to remain in the EU.
Elsewhere, 5,345 people had signed in Edinburgh South, 4,753 in the capital’s east, and 4,072 in Edinburgh South West.
In Glasgow North, 3,655 people had signed, as did 3,342 in Edinburgh West, and in Glasgow South 3,311 backed the cause.
In Glasgow Central, 3,274 people pledged their support, in East Lothian 3,040 had signed, as did 2,976 residents in Stirling.
The average number of signatures per UK constituency was 1,924 at the time of writing and the more pro-EU an area was in 2016, the more signatures it tended to have.