Bercow blocks bid to stop no-deal

Commons Speaker John Bercow thwarted another bid by pro-eu Tory rebels to block a no-deal Brexit, rejecting an amendment from the former Attorney General Dominic Grieve that sought to prevent parliament being suspended by the next Prime Minister.

Mr Grieve’s amendment to the Northern Ireland (Executive Formation) Bill had sought to keep government in the province running in the absence of the devolved institutions, requiring parliament to come back to the issue in October.

The move was designed to try to ensure the next prime minister cannot push through a no-deal on October 31, the current EU deadline for agreeing on a deal, simply by suspending, or “proroguing”, parliament.

Other amendments put forward by Mr Grieve seeking to make prorogation more difficult were selected, but would not have the legal force to stop a suspension.

Boris Johnson, the frontrunner for the Tory leadership, has refused to rule out suspending parliament in order to force through a no-deal Brexit, although he told the Daily Mail: “I’m not attracted to archaic political devices.”

Earlier. Mr Grieve claimed suspending parliament would mean “the end of democracy”.

“The idea that it is constitutionally proper to prorogue parliament as a device for bringing about a no-deal Brexit is outrageous,” he told the BBC’S Today programme.

“I have never come across a more extraordinary suggestion. If you decide that parliament is an inconvenience, when in fact it is the place where democratic legitimacy lies in our constitution, and therefore it’s acceptable to get rid of it for a period because it might otherwise [stop] you from doing something that parliament would prevent, then it’s the end of democracy.”