Queen approves Parliament break
the issue has been overshadowed by growing acrimony between Brazil and European countries seeking to help fight Amazon fires and protect a region seen as vital to the health of the planet.
At a summit in France this week, G7 nations pledged to help fight the flames and protect the rainforest by offering $20 million (R306m), in addition to a separate $12m from Britain and $11m from Canada.
But Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro, a far-right climate sceptic who took office this year with a promise to boost development in Latin America’s biggest economy, questioned whether offers of international aid mask a plot to exploit the Amazon’s resources and weaken Brazilian growth.
On Tuesday, he said that his French counterpart President Emmanuel Macron had called him a liar and would have to apologise before Brazil considers accepting rainforest aid.
Brazilian novelist Paulo Coelho offered an apology to France for what he called Bolsonaro’s “hysteria”.
Meanwhile, in Brazil a number of people said they supported Bolsonaro, exposing a divide that has split the country.
Others said in an open letter that the government’s discourse and measures are leading to a “collapse in federal environmental management and stimulate environmental crimes inside and outside the Amazon”.
The Amazon has experienced an increased rate of fires during drought periods in the past 20 years, but the phenomenon this year is “unusual” because drought has not yet hit, said Laura Schneider of Rutgers University-New Brunswick. BRITAIN’S Queen Elizabeth approved Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s plan to suspend parliament from mid-September to mid-October, a move that could hamper efforts by MPs to block a no-deal Brexit.
Johnson wants Britain to leave the EU as scheduled on October 31, even if it means not having a withdrawal deal in place. This would be a scenario which many fear could wreak havoc on the country’s economy with ripple effects far beyond.
The monarch’s formal body of advisers, the Privy Council, said the suspension would take place “no earlier than Monday, September 9, and no later than Thursday, September 12, to Monday, October 14, 2019”.
Johnson requested the suspension yesterday in what opposition leaders say is an intentional attempt to thwart their efforts by robbing them of valuable parliamentary time.
His proposal was met with outrage by the opposition and some members within his own Conservative party.
Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn and Liberal Democrat leader Jo Swinson wrote to the queen to protest Johnson’s bid.
Johnson denied the suggestion that his move was motivated by a desire to force through a no-deal Brexit, however, saying it would ensure “there is good time before and after the (EU summit) for parliament to further consider Brexit issues”.
Johnson is scheduled to meet other EU leaders at a summit on October 17 and 18 to discuss the terms of the departure.
John Bercow, the Speaker of the House of Commons, referred to the move as a “constitutional outrage”.
“Shutting down parliament would be an offence against the democratic process and the rights of parliamentarians as the people’s elected representatives,” Bercow said.
Conservative backbencher Dominic Grieve called it “outrageous,” saying that it could lead to a vote of no confidence in Johnson.
Scottish First Minister Nicola Sturgeon said: “Unless MPs come together to stop him next week, today will go down in history as a dark one indeed for UK democracy.”
The European Commission called on Britain to put forward any proposed changes to the Brexit divorce deal as soon as possible, while refusing to comment on Johnson’s request to suspend parliament.