Parliament suspension triggers fury

By Jonathan Powell in London | China Daily | Updated: 2019-08-30 07:50

Queen approved Johnson's request, a move likely to prompt no-deal Brexit

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson's decision to suspend Parliament for five weeks has provoked an angry backlash from members of Parliament as well as opponents of a no-deal Brexit. They have mounted impromptu protests across the country on Wednesday and launched a legal challenge and a petition that quickly drew more than 1 million signatures.

Outraged MPs accused Johnson and his government of sidelining Parliament in order to push through their Brexit plans - that could include no-deal - despite the wishes of the House of Commons.

After the prime minister confirmed he had obtained permission from Queen Elizabeth to suspend, or prorogue, Parliament, MPs from across the political spectrum, including some from Johnson's own Conservative Party, focused on fast-tracking legislation that would seek to prevent a no-deal Brexit.

However, the government has defended the decision to suspend Parliament for a five-week period, likely beginning in mid-September, and stressed the action was intended to better launch Johnson's domestic agenda.

House of Commons leader Jacob Rees-Mogg said the outrage was "phony", and that the move was "constitutional and proper".

"The candy floss of outrage we've had over the last 24 hours, which I think is almost entirely confected, is from people who never wanted to leave the European Union," he told the BBC on Thursday.

Labour's shadow international trade secretary, Barry Gardiner, told Sky News he was "amazed" at "how easily Jacob Rees-Mogg, with what superior tone, he twists the facts".

"This is a constitutional outrage," he added.

Gardiner said Labour would try to force an emergency debate when the Commons returns from its summer break next week. The opposition would then try to "mandate the government" to seek an extension to the Article 50 negotiating period with the EU, thereby delaying Brexit in order to prevent a no-deal Brexit.

Scottish Conservative leader Ruth Davidson has quit her role, citing her "conflict" over Brexit as well as family reasons.

Davidson's resignation will worry the Tories, as she is credited with the Conservatives' comeback in Scotland in the 2017 general election, when they won 13 seats that helped former prime minister Theresa May cling to power.

The European Parliament's coordinator on Brexit, Guy Verhofstadt, said the UK Parliament suspension was unlikely to deliver a stable future relationship.

Writing in The Guardian newspaper on Wednesday, Verhofstadt said, "Taking back control has never looked so sinister."

Nathalie Loiseau, a member of the European Parliament, or MEP, and a close ally of French President Emmanuel Macron, said the move heightened the chances of a no-deal outcome.

"We could see a Brexit without an agreement," the MEP wrote on Twitter. "It is, moreover, a Brexit without debate that is looming. From what disease is British democracy suffering that there is a fear of debate before taking one of the most important decisions in its history?"

Johnson's suspension request to Queen Elizabeth was made as his Brexit envoy, David Frost, met senior EU officials in Brussels to continue talks.

However, some have noted that the move does in fact buy Johnson more time to strike a change to the proposed withdrawal deal, if there are fewer Parliamentary sessions.

EU diplomats remain skeptical about whether Johnson can find alternatives to the Irish backstop - the main stumbling block - that can win over his party.

Under the backstop, Northern Ireland would continue to follow many EU single market rules, while the UK would remain part of an EU single customs territory. The backstop would kick in automatically if the two sides failed to find an alternative and would apply until new arrangements could be agreed upon.

johathan@mail.chinadailyuk.com