UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson today requested a suspension of the UK Parliament from Her Majesty the Queen, which was granted.
Parliament is currently in summer recess, due to return on September 3rd.
The burning question of Brexit has bitterly divided the country since the vote to leave the European Union was won by the majority in 2016.
Since then, the former Prime Minister Theresa May failed three times to get the agreed deal with Brussels passed in the Houses of Parliament.
Boris Johnson has vowed the U.K. will leave the E.U. on or before the extended deadline on the 31st October “Do or Die”.
This could mean the U.K. leaves the E.U. with or without a deal.
Prime Minister Johnson is fresh back from the G7 talks in the South of France where he met with President Trump, Germany’s Angela Merkel & France’s Emmanuel Macron amongst others to discuss the future of Brexit.
Mr. Johnson has said that should the E.U. not seek to renegotiate the deal secured by Theresa May, then the U.K. will leave without a deal and withhold at least £30 billion of the agreed £39 billion ‘leaving fee’ agreed by May.
Only the Queen has the power to suspend Parliament, but when requested to do so on the advice of a current Prime Minister inevitably accedes to the request.
The suspension of Parliament by the Queen is normal following a general election or the otherwise formation of a new government. But this early suspension move is historic and largely unprecedented.
The respected BBC’s political editor Laura Kuenssberg said the move was “Decisive and intensely risky”.
The surprise move by Johnson of suspending Parliament, known as ‘proroguing ’ has angered many anti-Brexiteers today;
The normally independent Speaker of the House, John Bercow came out to say “However it is dressed up, it is blindingly obvious that the purpose of [suspending Parliament] now would be to stop [MPs] debating Brexit and performing its duty in shaping a course for the country”
Parliament is likely to be suspended until the 14th October, with the deadline for leaving the E.U. only days away, thereby making a threatened vote of no confidence in the Prime Minister or other legal challenges to Brexit unlikely to be processed in sufficient time to have any impact on Johnson’s intended outcome.
Opposition Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn commented “Suspending Parliament is not acceptable; it is not on. What the prime minister is doing is a smash and grab on our democracy to force through a no-deal”
However, President Trump, friend, and supporter of Boris Johnson Tweeted this;
Stand by folks, the U.K. is in for a ride over the next few weeks.
Porter Medium will be keeping you updated on developments.
