Scottish court rules PM’s suspension of Parliament unlawful.

Suspension of Parliament found to be unlawful by highest Scots civil court

Boris Johnson is facing furious demands for the immediate recall of MPs to Westminster after the suspension of parliament was ruled unlawful by Scotland’s highest civil court.

In a dramatic judgment, the Court of Session in Edinburgh found ministers had stopped MPs from sitting for the “improper purpose of stymying parliament”.

It said advice given by ministers to the Queen, which led to the five-week prorogation, was therefore “unlawful and is thus null and of no effect”.

The government immediately announced it was lodging an appeal against the ruling with the Supreme Court, with a hearing set for Tuesday.

But opposition MPs said the prorogation should be set aside without delay so ministers could be held to account for their Brexit plans.

Shadow Brexit Secretary Sir Keir said: “What Boris Johnson should do is urgently recall parliament.

“We should be back there this afternoon, or tomorrow, so we can debate this judgment, and we can decide what to do next.”

Former attorney general Dominic Grieve warned that if ministers had misled the Queen over the reasons for prorogation, Mr Johnson’s position would be untenable.

“It is absolutely central to our constitution that the relationship between the prime minister and the Queen is one of the utmost good faith,” he told the BBC.

“So, if it were to be the case that the government had misled the Queen about the reasons for suspending parliament and the motives for it, that would be a very serious matter indeed.”

Downing Street insisted the five-week prorogation was so the new government could set out its legislative programme in a Queen’s Speech on October 14.

The prime minister’s spokesman rejected claims that the true purpose was to prevent MPs thwarting his pledge to take Britain out of the EU by October 31, with or without a deal with Brussels.

The spokesman added that the government would abide by the ruling of the Supreme Court, which is also considering an appeal against a ruling by the High Court in London, which found that the suspension was lawful.

In the meantime, officials said parliament would remain prorogued.

The unanimous ruling by three judges sitting at the Court of Session followed an appeal by a group of around 70 parliamentarians who had appealed against an earlier ruling that the prorogation was lawful.

SNP MP Joanna Cherry, who led the case, said Mr Johnson must now bring MPs back to Westminster.

“We have uncovered more and more evidence that this was a plot by Boris Johnson and his cronies to prevent us from stopping them taking Scotland and the UK off a Brexit cliff edge by forcing through a damaging no-deal against the will of parliament,” she said.

Lib Dem Brexit spokesman Tom Brake warned ministers could not ignore the implications of the ruling.

“The prorogation of parliament was never more than a power grab,” he said.