Parliament suspended
The Government asked the Queen to suspend Parliament just a few days after MPs return to work next Tuesday, until a fortnight before the Brexit deadline of 31 October. Prime Minister Boris Johnson said a new parliamentary session would begin on 14 October with the Queen’s Speech, outlining his “very exciting” legislative agenda. The Queen approved the request, which means MPs now have a greatly reduced period in which to pass laws to stop a no-deal Brexit. The House of Commons Speaker John Bercow described the move as a “constitutional outrage”.
Last week, Johnson travelled to Berlin and Paris to discuss the possibility of renegotiating the
Irish backstop. In Germany, Chancellor Angela Merkel stated that it might take years to find a solution to the border problem, before adding: “But maybe we can find that solution in the next 30 days.” In Paris, Emmanuel Macron suggested that the withdrawal agreement could be “amended”, but stated that the backstop itself was “indispensable”. In London, the leaders of Labour, the Lib Dems, the SNP, Plaid Cymru and the Greens agreed to “act together to find ways to prevent no deal”.
What the editorials said
“For three long years, Theresa May valiantly struggled with the tortuously complicated task of delivering Brexit,” said the Daily Mail. But she “foundered” on the rocks of European intransigence and the Irish backstop. Now, after only a month in power, there are signs that Johnson may already be on the brink of a breakthrough. “It is notable that the chink of light came after he played hardball, vowing to walk away without a deal.” So it’s “extraordinary” that a “rag-tag” coalition of Remainer MPs has chosen this moment to undermine Johnson’s negotiating position, said The Daily Telegraph. Their manoeuvres only make a deal less likely.
It’s good that the Europeans are open to further negotiation, said The Guardian. But in substance, “not a lot” has changed. Nothing that Johnson has presented in public looks like “a remotely serious attempt” to prevent no deal. The fear is that all of this is an “elaborate masquerade” designed to allow the two sides to blame one another when the inevitable comes to pass, and Britain crashes out. Soon enough, the crisis will come to a head, said The Independent. “Once it has become clear that Mr Johnson’s alternative arrangements are based in an alternative reality, MPs must be ready to act decisively.”