Section:GDN 1N PaGe:7 Edition Date:190829 Edition:01 Zone: Sent at 28/8/2019 20:57 cYanmaGentaYellowbl
Thursday 29 Aug ust 2019 The Guardian •
7privy council meeting at Balmoral by
a small number of senior ministers
who attend the meetings.
There has been some confusion
because technically senior
opposition MPs are members of the
privy council, including Jeremy
Corbyn , the Labour leader. But these
MPs do not go to actual meetings,
which are the preserve of a select
number of senior ministers, led by
Jacob Rees-Mogg, who is the lord
president of the council.Could the Queen have
refused the privy council’s
request?
Technically, yes under the royal
prerogative. But in reality it would
have been extremely diffi cult for her
to do so. Corbyn has written to her
saying: “There was a danger that the
royal prerogative is being set directly
against the wishes of a majority of
the House of Commons.”How will this aff ect plans
to stop no deal?Less than 24 hours after Corbyn
and other opposition MPs came to
an agreement that they would use
legislative eff orts to stop no deal ,
rather than the “nuclear option” of
an immediate no-confi dence vote, it
looks like the window for potential
legislation has become far narrower.
It makes the prospect of a snap
no-confi dence vote far more likely
and remain MPs will need to weigh
up that option. Corbyn has off ered
to lead a caretaker government to
negotiate an extension to article 50
and then call a general election – an
off er that is highly unpalatable to
most Conservative MPs.
The Tory rebel Dominic Grieve,
who opposes a no-deal Brexit , said
he would consult with like-minded
MPs over the next few days before
parliament’s return next week.
Grieve said a no-confi dence
vote was now more likely. “If it is
impossible to prevent prorogation
then I think it is going to be very
diffi cult for people like myself to
keep confi dence in the government
and I could well see why the leader
of the opposition would wish to
table a motion for a vote of no
confi dence,” he said.Will there be legal action
to stop prorogation?There will be an attempt. The
Scottish National party MP Joanna
Cherry has confi rmed she has
spoken to her legal team about
speeding up the planned action in
the Scottish courts, which was due
to be heard on 6 September.
Labour’s Ian Murray, another of
the cross-party group of more than
70 MPs and peers behind the action,
said they would consider seeking
an interim interdict – similar to an
injunction in England and Wales- in the court of session to block
prorogation.
Led by the Good Law Project of
the QC Jolyon Maugham , the group
had been seeking a ruling from the
court of session to prevent the prime
minister going to the Queen with
a request for prorogation until all
appeals were exhausted.
Jessica Elgot
Chief political correspondent
Aamna Mohdin
Maya Wolfe-Robinson
Marvel KalukembiWithin hours of Boris Johnson’s
decision to suspend parliament,
impromptu protests were being held
in city and town centres across the
country, including in front of the Pal-
ace of Westminster in central London.
Demonstrations were scheduled to
be held from late afternoon onwards
in Manchester, Edinburgh, Cardiff ,
Birmingham, Liverpool, Bristol, Cam-
bridge, Brighton, Durham, Milton
Keynes and Chester.
Protesters gathered just outside
parliament then marched towards
Downing Street. Organisers claimed
the crowd numbered in the thousands.
The demonstrators described the
move to suspend parliament as a coup
and called for Johnson to resign. At one
point, the traffi c at Downing Street was
at a standstill as protesters chanted:
“ Save our democracy, stop the coup”.Europe reacts
‘Sinister’ ploy
to suppress
crucial debate
‘Stop the coup’
Thousands
join protests
across the UK
Amelia Womack, deputy leader
of the Green party, was one of many
opposition politicians present. She
said: “We’re here to stand against Boris
Johnson’s coup. We have a represent-
ative democracy and by suspending
parliament, you are removing people’s
democratic right.”
Of the decision to prorogue, she
said: “I feel like we’ve been expecting
this for a while but I didn’t think he
would make such a brutal move that
showed such a disregard for our parlia-
mentary procedures. I think what he
has done is unite parts of the country
who don’t support a no-deal .”
Jane Keane, 54, said she had been▲ A protester in London wears a
placard criticising the prime minister▼ Protesters against the prime
minister’s prorogation decision
gather outside parliament
PHOTOGRAPH: HENRY NICHOLLS/REUTERS
Jennifer Rankin
BrusselsEuropean sources have warned
that Boris Johnson’s move to sus-
pend parliament for fi ve weeks has
increased the chances of a no-deal
Brexit, while a leading MEP said:
“ Taking back control has never looked
so sinister.”
The plan to suspend parliament ,
which would drastically reduce
MPs’ ability to infl uence changes to
the withdrawal agreement or seek a
delay, is seen in Brussels as a move to
overpower rebels and force through
Johnson’s Brexit agenda.
The European parliament’s
co ordinator on Brexit, Guy Verhof-
stadt , said the move was unlikely todemocracy dictates implementing
Brexit ‘do or die’ on October 31. As a
fellow parliamentarian and democrat I
wonder: how does respect for democ-
racy go together with suspending
parliament?”
Jean-Claude Piris, a former head
of the EU council legal service, said
the move to suspend parliament had
convinced him that Johnson “is deter-
mined to go for no-deal”.
The UK was in “a really deep politi-
cal and probably a deep constitutional
crisis”, but there was nothing the EU
could do, he added.
An EU diplomat said it was really
hard to say what Johnson’s “scheme”
was, adding that he was pessimistic
about a compromise in talks. “We have
no idea what his aim is apart from stay-
ing prime minister. This is his ultimate
aim and all other things are being sub-
jected to this aim.”
The move to suspend parliament
is now seen as heightening the risk of
no deal. It has also been pointed out
that it does buy Johnson more time
to strike a deal, if there are fewer par-
liamentary sessions.
Amid intense political volatility in
the UK, EU diplomats remain scepti-
cal about whether the prime minister
can fi nd alternatives to the Irish back-
stop – the main stumbling block – that
can win over his party.
Following a meeting between
David Frost, Johnson’s EU adviser,
and EU offi cials, a UK government
spokes person said the UK and EU had
agreed to “intensify discussions as of
next week”.
Frost was not expected to put
fresh ideas on the table, while the EU
is stressing that proposals need to be
off ered sooner rather than later. Johnson’s Europe adviser, David
Frost, and the UK ambassador to the
EU, Tim Barrow, in Brussels yesterday
PHOTOGRAPH: FRANÇOIS LENOIR/REUTERSprotesting every day since Michael
Gove announced that the government
would start making preparations for a
no-deal Brexit. “It is a complete con-
tradiction to what parliament has said
three times,” she said. “They’ve said
no deal is unacceptable. My under-
standing is parliament is sovereign,
not Boris Johnson.”
Michael Chessum, the national
organiser for Another Europe is Pos-
sible, said: “Today’s protest was huge
and exceeded all expectations. We got
thousands at four hours’ notice. We
cannot rely on the judiciary or parlia-
mentary process to save democracy- we need a mass movement of pro-
test and civil disobedience. ”
In Manchester, a growing crowd
of a bout 100 protest ers gathered in
Albert Square by the town hall. Many
were armed with umbrellas, some
in solidarity with Hong Kong’s pro-
democracy protest, some to protect
against the rain.
Rory , a retired lecturer in his 70s,
said: “It’s the most fl agrant attack on
democracy that I can remember. It’s
bad enough that [ Johnson] was elected
leader by a handful of people, but what
was this taking back control all about?
And sovereignty of parliament? Parlia-
ment has just been overruled. I think
it’s an absolute outrage.”
Tallulah, 17, said she thought what
was going on was “absolutely ridic-
ulous. The facade of a democracy is
being ripped apart.”
Constitutional crisis
Longest gap since 1945
Boris Johnson’s plan to prorogue
parliament for fi ve weeks is the
longest suspension of the British
legislature since 1945 and appears
designed to evade scrutiny of plans
for Brexit or any new deal with the
EU, constitutional experts have said.
Ruth Fox , the director of the
highly respected Hansard Society,
described it as an “aff ront to
parliamentary democracy”.
Lawyers said the unprecedented
length of the suspension would
prompt immediate legal challenge.
“Expect litigation – starting in
Scotland,” said Ros Kellaway ,
the head of Brexit and EU law at
Eversheds Sutherland , in London.
The lengthy gap between the end
of the last scheduled parliamentary
session, on 9 September, and the
next sitting, on 14 October, compares
with a “three- to seven-day gap” in
the past decade , said Fox.
“ If the government wants a new
Queen’s speech it could bring one
forward on the usual week to two-
week timetable for prorogation.
“In the current Brexit context,
anything longer than this is clearly
designed to help the government
evade parliamentary scrutiny .”
Lisa O’Carroll and Heather Stewart
deliver a stable future relationship.
“‘Taking back control’ has never
looked so sinister,” he wrote. “As a
fellow parliamentarian, my solidar-
ity [is] with those fi ghting for their
voices to be heard. Suppressing debate
on profound choices is unlikely to
help deliver a stable future EU - UK
relationship.”
EU offi cials said it heightened the
chances of a no-deal outcome, as
parliament could refuse to back a com-
promise presented to MPs just days
before the 31 October deadline.
Nathalie Loiseau , a former Europe
minister, who is a close ally of the
French president, Emmanuel Macron,
said the move showed there was a
“disease” in British democracy.
“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 suff er-
ing that there is a fear of debate before
taking one of the most important deci-
sions in its history?”
Norbert Rottgen , the chairman of
the foreign aff airs committee in the
German Bundestag, sounded incred-
ulous at the move. He tweeted:
“Johnson argues that respect forRELEASED BY "What's News" vk.com/wsnws TELEGRAM: t.me/whatsnws