What the commentators said
“The Queen’s summers in Balmoral are usually not the scene of major constitutional events,” said Henry Zeffman in The Times. But this week a delegation led by Jacob Rees-Mogg visited and asked her to agree that Parliament be suspended, or prorogued, in the week of 9 September. Prorogation, which ends each parliamentary session, is usually an “uncontroversial” annual formality. But it is rarely done at such a politically charged time, or for so long: add in the party conference season, and MPs won’t sit for five weeks. It’s less contentious than the proposal to suspend Parliament until after Brexit day. But it’s still quite contentious enough: Johnson has made it much harder for MPs trying to stop him taking Britain out of Europe “by making one of their biggest constraints – time – even more of a problem”.
It’s a cynical move, said Ian Dunt on Politics.co.uk. But it certainly doesn’t prevent MPs from stopping a no deal. It simply means they “will have to be quick about it”. The timetable still leaves Parliament sitting for a week or more in early September (and again in late October). The Cooper-Letwin bill, forcing the extension of Article 50 earlier this year, was passed in a few days. In effect, Johnson’s move is likely to set up “a showdown in Parliament next week”, said Stephen Bush in the New Statesman. If his plans are derailed, it will give him the pretext “to stand outside Downing Street, decry the bad behaviour of MPs and go to the country on a ‘don’t let politicians steal Brexit’ ticket before 31 October”. This increasingly looks like the Government’s real preference, rather than pursuing no deal with a “fragile” majority.
“The PM faces one of the most complicated political puzzles of modern times,” said Jon Moynihan in The Sunday Telegraph. He is negotiating simultaneously with four parties, each with very different demands: the EU, a Remain-friendly Parliament, the Tory Brexiteers and the electorate. This week, Johnson’s chief Brexit adviser, David Frost, began talks with the EU Commission to forge a plan “that can satisfy Brussels, London and Dublin”, said Nigel Morris in the I newspaper. The Government has a matter of weeks to identify “the magic formula”.
What next?
A number of public figures, including former prime minister John Major, have threatened to go to court to stop the prorogation of Parliament, says BBC News. A legal challenge led by the SNP’s justice spokeswoman, Joanna Cherry, has already been lodged in the Scottish courts.
Labour’s Jeremy Corbyn said that suspending Parliament represented “a smash and grab on our democracy to force through a no deal”. He said that when MPs return to the Commons next Tuesday, “the first thing we’ll do is attempt legislation to prevent what [the PM] is doing”. After that, he suggested, there would be a vote of no confidence “at some point”.