The Courier & Advertiser (Angus and Dundee)
Pressure mounts on PM after stunning court ruling
PM stands firm after devastating judgment – despite demands for him to resign
• Lady Hale and the Supreme Court rule Prorogue void
• MPS and Lords to return to Westminster today
• First minister and Jeremy Corbyn call on Johnson to resign
• 37 days until Brexit deadline
• Labour will trigger no confidence vote “when it is best to do so”
Boris Johnson has vowed to press on with his plans for Brexit despite a devastating ruling by Britain’s highest court that his suspension of Parliament was unlawful.
The prime minister said he would abide by the finding of the Supreme Court that the five-week prorogation was “void and of no effect” – even though he disagreed with its conclusion.
A government source said Mr Johnson had spoken to the Queen “after the verdict” but would not say whether he apologised to her.
Following the legal bombshell, Commons Speaker John Bercow announced that MPS would return to Westminster today with the House sitting at 11.30am.
The ruling prompted immediate demands from opposition MPS for Mr Johnson to quit amid claims his position had become untenable.
Downing Street insisted there was no question of Mr Johnson – who was in New York for the UN General Assembly when the result was announced – stepping aside.
A No 10 source said: “The PM will not resign following the judgment.”
“I strongly disagree with this decision of the Supreme Court,” the prime ministers told reporters.
“I have the utmost respect for our judiciary, I don’t think this was the right decision, I think that the prorogation has been used for centuries without this kind of challenge.
“I think the most important thing is we get on and deliver Brexit on October 31, and clearly the claimants in this case are determined to frustrate that and to stop that.”
Announcing the result, the Supreme Court’s president Lady Hale said the government’s advice to the Queen 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”.
She said the prolonged suspension of parliamentary democracy took place in the “quite exceptional circumstances” of the UK’S impending exit from the EU on October 31.
She added: “Parliament, and in particular the House of Commons as the elected representatives of the people, has a right to a voice in how that change comes about.
“The effect upon the fundamentals of our democracy was extreme.”
At the Labour Party conference in Brighton, Jeremy Corbyn said the court ruling had shown Mr Johnson’s “contempt for democracy” and his “abuse of power”.
“I invite Boris Johnson in the historic words to consider his position and become the shortest serving prime minister there’s ever been,” he said.
The SNP leader at Westminster Ian Blackford said: “He has to be removed from office and the opposition has to come together, the opposition has to do its job.”
Liberal Democrat leader Jo Swinson said: “The court have found what we all knew all along – Boris Johnson has again proven he is not fit to be prime minister.”