BORIS GOES NUCLEAR
Commons to shut, stopping MPs blocking No-Deal Brexit Fury of ex-PM as Johnson tries to ‘bypass parliament’ Labour MPs may barricade themselves in the Commons Speculation about early election reaches fever pitch
BORIS Johnson yesterday plunged Britain into political civil war after suspending the Westminster parliament for nearly five weeks. The British prime minister took the ‘nuclear option’ of stopping the House of Commons from sitting between early September and October 14 – slashing the time available to block a No-Deal
Brexit. Mr Johnson claimed this would allow him to present his domestic agenda in a Queen’s Speech, but there was outrage among Remainers.
House of Commons Speaker John Bercow warned of a ‘constitutional outrage’ while UK Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn called on Queen Elizabeth to intervene.
And Scottish Conservative leader Ruth Davidson, a Remainer, is expected to deliver a significant blow to Mr Johnson by resigning today.
As Tánaiste Simon Coveney reiterated that the border backstop would not be abandoned, the scene was set for a momentous clash between Mr Johnson and MPs across the party divide when they return to Westminster next week after their long summer break.
The odds of a snap UK election and a No-Deal Brexit both shortened considerably after yesterday’s shock announcement.
While EU politicians accused Mr Johnson of ‘sinister’ tactics, senior British government sources there insisted Mr Johnson would honour his ‘do or die’ pledge to take Britain out of the EU on October 31 even if MPs passed a law ordering him to avoid No Deal.
An ally said Mr Johnson would refuse any request to delay Brexit again, adding: ‘We could get into some pretty deep waters, but we are ready for that. If MPs pass a no-confidence vote next week, then he won’t resign. We won’t recommend another government, we’ll dissolve parliament and call an election in November.
The source also said: ‘Boris will not seek an extension to Brexit, we are leaving.’
The dramatic gambit came as: ÷ Details emerged of a plan between Remainer MPs and Mr Bercow to seize control of the Commons agenda as soon as parliament returns next Tuesday in order to try and block no deal. ÷ Former UK prime minister John Major accused Mr Johnson of trying to ‘bypass a sovereign parliament that opposes his policy on Brexit’ and said he was considering legal action to prevent it. ÷ The Lawyer magazine reported that law firm Mishcon de Reya has lodged an immediate legal injunction on behalf of Remain activist Gina Miller to prevent the government proroguing the parliament. ÷ A leaked document claimed Mr Johnson’s Brexit adviser David Frost ‘stressed very strongly’ that the UK prime minister wants a deal with Brussels, but warned he was ‘not frightened of No Deal’. ÷ US President Donald Trump backed the move, saying Jeremy Corbyn would find it ‘very hard’ to win a no-confidence vote as Mr Johnson was ‘exactly what the UK has been looking for’. ÷ The British pound slumped against the euro on the back of speculation that the move would make No Deal more likely. ÷ Speculation about an early election reached fever pitch as the UK Treasury confirmed Chancellor Sajid Javid would pledge billions of pounds for schools, hospitals and the police in a major spending review next week. ÷ Senior Labour MPs called for guerrilla tactics to combat Mr Johnson’s ploy, including barricading themselves in parliament and backing a general strike. ÷ Tory MP and Brexit hardliner Mark Francois warned that removing the backstop would still not be enough to persuade Eurosceptics to back the deal.
Mr Johnson’s decision to stage a Queen’s Speech on October 14 was kept secret from all but a handful of his cabinet ministers until yesterday morning.
In a letter to MPs, he said the current parliamentary session had been the longest in almost 400 years and ‘needs to be brought to a close’ to allow the government to set out a new domestic agenda.
He said MPs would have an opportunity to vote on his proposals – and any last-minute Brexit
‘Boris will not seek an extension’
deal – on October 21 and 22, just over a week before the UK is due to leave the EU.
Parliament had been due to rise for a three-week recess from midSeptember for the party conference season, and Tory sources said Mr Johnson’s decision means MPs would only lose four sitting days at the start of October, and potentially another two or three days next month.
They added that MPs will still have a short period next week to try to stop No Deal – or force Mr Johnson from office.
However, Tory sources acknowledged that the suspension – the longest for a Queen’s Speech for many years – would ‘steal a few days’ from those seeking to undermine Mr Johnson’s Brexit strategy. It is also possible that MPs might have cancelled the party conference recess in order to give themselves more time to debate Brexit and vote on it.
Opposition leaders, including Mr Corbyn and the Liberal Democrat leader Jo Swinson wrote to Queen Elizabeth seeking an urgent meeting to discuss the move. But Buckingham Palace later announced the suspension had been agreed after Commons leader Jacob ReesMogg led a secret delegation of ministers to Balmoral, where the Queen interrupted her holiday to sign off on it.
Labour’s shadow chancellor John McDonnell accused Mr Johnson of staging a ‘coup’. And the Speaker, who will play a pivotal role in any bid to block Brexit, interrupted his holiday to issue a statement, saying: ‘However it is dressed up, it is blindingly obvious that the purpose of prorogation now would be to stop parliament debating Brexit and performing its duty in shaping a course for the country.’
Scotland’s first minister Nicola Sturgeon said: ‘Today will go down as the day democracy died.’
Members of the Remain Alliance were tight-lipped last night but one source said MPs were working with Mr Bercow to stage an emergency debate on Tuesday to allow MPs the chance to try and pass a new law requiring Mr Johnson to seek a further Brexit delay.
The UK’s shadow attorney general Shami Chakrabarti said a formal vote of no-confidence was also ‘an option’ under consideration.
And former Tory attorney general Dominic Grieve said yesterday he was now willing to join Labour in voting down Mr Johnson’s government.
‘Removing backstop still not be enough’