The Daily Telegraph - 29.08.2019

Yo u ’ v e p o k e d

the hornets’

nest, Bercow

allies warn

Johnson

By Harry Yorke
Political corresPondent

ALLIES of John Bercow have warned
Boris Johnson that he has “poked the
hornets’ nest” by proroguing Parlia-
ment, amid claims that the Speaker will
help Remainers to rapidly pass legisla-
tion to block a no-deal Brexit.
With opposition parties determined
to seize control of parliamentary busi-
ness as early as next Tuesday, sources
close to Mr Bercow say he is ready to
“facilitate” their plans. Speaking to The
Daily Telegraph last night, a close
friend of Mr Bercow said the hopes of
Europhile MPs now rested on him,
adding: “It’s now or never.”
The Speaker yesterday reacted furi-
ously to the news that Mr Johnson had
requested the Queen prorogue Parlia-
ment as early as Sept 9, potentially leav-
ing MPs with four days to stop no deal.
Mr Bercow called the move a “consti-
tutional outrage” and a “blindingly ob-
vious attempt” to “stop Parliament
debating Brexit and performing its
duty”. In a statement, he said “shutting
down Parliament would be an offence
against the democratic process”.
He said: “Surely at this early stage in
his premiership, the Prime Minister
should be seeking to establish rather
than undermine his democratic cre-
dentials and indeed his commitment to
Parliamentary democracy.”
The unprecedented intervention by
the Speaker, who is required to be po-

litically neutral, fuelled speculation

that he was gearing up for a monumen-

tal clash with the Government when

Parliament reconvenes next week. Mr

Bercow said two weeks ago he would

fight any attempt to prorogue Parlia-

ment “with every bone in my body”.

Before an audience in Edinburgh,

the Speaker said that closing down Par-

liament was “anathema to me”, adding:

“Parliament will be heard and nobody

is going to get away, as far as I am con-

cerned, with stopping that happening.”

An ally said they would be “amazed”

if Mr Bercow did not give approval to

an application for an emergency debate

on Tuesday, which if granted would be

used by MPs to try to take control of the

Commons order paper to allow back-

bench legislation to be pushed through

both Commons and Lords within the

narrow window before Parliament is

prorogued. It would mirror a plan suc-

cessfully executed by Labour’s Yvette

Cooper and Tory grandee Sir Oliver

Letwin this year, which required the

Government to extend Article 50.

“I think his statement was a pretty

strong signal that he will facilitate an

SO24 debate,” the source said last night.

“Boris has poked the hornets’ nest.

[The Speaker] is going to be in the

chair, there’s no doubt about that.

“We’re going to have to be super

quick in terms of what legislation can

be passed. We will have to use every

possible opportunity to make use of

the time available. It’s now or never.”

Proroguing ‘to set out

exciting new agenda’

Continued from Page 1
to the Monarch asking her to reconsider
the decision to grant Mr Johnson’s
request. When the Commons returns
next week, Mr Johnson will face
attempts to pass legislation blocking
Brexit on Oct 31 and extending Article

50. If that fails, Mr Corbyn will table a
    confidence vote in an attempt to bring
    down the Government.
    But Mr Rees-Mogg, writing today in
    The Daily Telegraph, said MPs trying to
    prevent Brexit were the unconstitu-
    tional ones. He said: “There is no consti-
    tutional crisis except that caused by
    those who voted for the referendum,
    then supported the use of Article 50
    and backed the Withdrawal Act.
    “Every one of these had comfortable
    Parliamentary majorities, often backed
    by those who now cry out that
    following a plebiscite is undemocratic.
    This is untrue and unconstitutional.”
    Mr Rees-Mogg flew to Balmoral with
    Baroness Evans, the Leader of the

Lords, and Mark Spencer, the Chief

Whip, as the Privy Council representa-

tives given the task of formally asking

the Queen to prorogue Parliament.

Mr Johnson, who had spoken to the

Queen by telephone earlier in the day,

said it was “completely untrue” to sug-

gest Brexit was the reason for his deci-

sion, insisting he needed a Queen’s

Speech to set out a “very exciting

agenda” of domestic policy. He also de-

nied the move was to pave the way for

an early general election. But he said it

would allow him to bring forward leg-

islation for a new Withdrawal Agree-

ment if a deal could be done with

Brussels around the time of the Euro-

pean Council summit on Oct 17.

He added there would be “ample

time” for MPs to “debate the EU, Brexit,

and all the other issues.”

The Commons was expected to sit

for the first two weeks of September

and then break for party conference

season, although MPs had been plan-

Jacob Rees-Mogg returns from Balmoral having asked the Queen to prorogue Parliament

Remainers go to court to

halt ‘unlawful’ suspension

By Charles Hymas

Home affairs editor

MINISTERS face a court bid by 70 Re-

mainer politicians and lawyers within

the next 24 hours to stop them sus-

pending Parliament on the grounds

that it is “unlawful.”

The legal team claims Boris Johnson

has broken the law by denying Parlia-

ment enough time to authorise a no-

deal Brexit on Oct 31.

They have been granted the right to

apply for an interim emergency ruling

from the courts that would prevent the

Prime Minister proroguing Parliament

between Sept 9-12. This would be

pending a full hearing on Sept 6.

However, Dominic Grieve, the for-

mer attorney general said: “I think a

court is going to be most reluctant to

interfere in the royal prerogative on

prorogation.” The action has been

backed by more than £100,000 in

crowdfunding and fast-tracked since

the Government was first notified of it

in mid-July. The court of session in

Scotland yesterday granted a hearing

for an interim injunction or suspension

of the Government’s prorogation, al-

though it is unclear if it will be heard

today or tomorrow. The case is being

taken in Scotland because courts there

sit through the summer.

Jolyon Maugham, QC, founder of the

Good Law Project that is leading the

case, said: “In extremis, if Parliament

doesn’t have time to authorise by pri-

mary legislation no deal, the court may

direct the Prime Minister to revoke the

Article 50 notification.”

Separately, anti-Brexit campaigner

Gina Miller has issued proceedings to

challenge prorogation. “This is a bra-

zen attempt...to prevent the executive

being held accountable for its conduct

before parliament,” said Miller, who

first rose to prominence in 2016 when

she brought a legal case that forced

parliament to legislate before Article

50 could be invoked. Barrister Tom

Hickman announced he would be act-

ing alongside Mishcon de Reya, Lord

Pannick QC and Warren Fitt.

KIRSTY WIGGLESWORTH / PA

JOHN BERCOW

‘Shutting down

Parliament would be

an offence against the

democratic process’

JEREMY CORBYN

‘An outrage and a

threat to our

democracy’

NIGEL FARAGE

‘The Government’s

announcement ... is

seen as a positive move

by Brexiteers’

PHILIP HAMMOND

‘It would be a

constitutional outrage’

Parliament prorogued

Parliament will

be suspended for

five weeks from

mid-September,

yet although that

significantly

reduces the

amount of time

available to MPs

to block no deal,

it doesn’t change

their options.

uPlan A: pass

legislation

On Tuesday,

opposition

leaders united

behind a plan to

pass legislation

preventing no

deal. Yesterday,

Jeremy Corbyn

made clear that

Labour still

intends to

pursue this plan.

To do so, MPs

will apply for an

emergency

debate under

Standing Order

24, which John

Bercow, the

Speaker, must

then approve.

In April, Mr

Bercow allowed

rebel MPs to use

SO24 to pass the

Cooper-Letwin

Bill, to force

Theresa May to

seek an Article

50 extension.

MPs could also

try to use a

motion under

the Northern

Ireland

(Executive

Formation) Act

2019 for the

same objective.

Why it might

fail: Proroguing

Parliament

leaves MPs with

almost no time.

A bid to cancel

the September

recess is now no

longer possible.

The Cooper-

Letwin Bill

passed the

Commons in just

five days,

suggesting that

even in the

curtailed

September

session, MPs

might succeed.

However, the

Government

effectively rolled

over in April. It

will not do so

this time and

could instruct

members of the

House of Lords

to simply

filibuster the

Bill.

The nature of

the legislation

and the time

required to pass

it means it will

be a one-shot

plan, with MPs

not knowing

whether it has

failed until it is

simply too late.

uPlan B: a unity

government

If MPs can’t pass

legislation, their

next option

would be to pass

a motion of no

confidence in

the Government.

If it succeeds,

Parliament

would enter a

14-day cooling-

off period.

Opposition MPs

believe that

during that

fortnight they

could try to form

an alternative

government

under a

caretaker prime

minister who

would seek an

Article 50

extension and

possibly pass

legislation to

rule out no deal.

Why it might

fail: Not all

constitutional

experts agree

that Mr Johnson

would be forced

to resign. He

may refuse to

make way. More

likely is that MPs

simply cannot

unite behind a

caretaker PM.

uPlan C: a

general election

If an alternative

government is

not formed and

Mr Johnson

cannot win

another vote of

confidence in

the cooling-off

period, there

must be a

general election.

Labour is

expected to

campaign for a

second

referendum

while the Liberal

Democrats are

agreeing to a

Remain alliance

with the Greens

and Plaid

Cymru.

The Brexit

Party could

undermine the

Tory Party in a

number of key

marginal seats.

Why it might

fail: The choice

of the election

date is down to

the Prime

Minister. Mr

Johnson could

schedule it for

after Oct 31 and

not request an

EU extension.

But he may back

away from such

a move – an

election in the

middle of a

no-deal Brexit

would not be

ideal – but MPs

could not stop

him.

Daniel Capurro

Leaving it late Why MPs’ options to block a no-deal Brexit remain unchanged despite Parliament’s suspension

Yesterday, Jeremy Corbyn claimed his

first act upon returning to Parliament

would be to “try and legislate” to

thwart Mr Johnson’s plans. Labour in-

siders said they were keeping a confi-

dence motion in reserve in case

legislative efforts failed. Last night, Mr

Corbyn requested an urgent meeting

with the Queen to reverse the order,

describing Mr Johnson’s move as a

“smash and grab on our democracy”.

Jo Swinson, the Lib Dem leader, also

wrote, stating prorogation was an “anti-

democratic plan” to “stifle” the will of

Parliament. But within hours of the let-

ters being sent, a statement confirmed

the Queen had agreed to suspend Par-

liament after a delegation of privy

counsellors led by Jacob Rees-Mogg,

the Commons Leader, went to Balmoral

to seek agreement to the plan.

Last night some Tory rebels sig-

nalled they may be prepared to vote to

topple the Government as a last-ditch

attempt to stop the UK leaving the Eu-

ropean Union without an agreement.

They included Dominic Grieve, the for-

mer attorney general, who said if it was

“impossible to prevent prorogation”,

he would find it “very difficult” to prop

up the Government.

Others, including David Gauke, the

former justice secretary, Stephen Ham-

mond, the former health minister, and

Antoinette Sandbach, MP for Eddis-

bury, called Mr Johnson’s decision “un-

democratic”. But another prominent

Tory Remainer suggested only “three

or four” colleagues would ultimately

be willing to topple the Government.

A senior Lib Dem source said the

party remained convinced that a confi-

dence vote would fail if it meant Labour

forming a “caretaker” government. In-

stead, they claimed Remain MPs were

focused on pushing through “Cooper-

Letwin 2.0”, adding that the legislation

was ready to be “put down next week”.

The Telegraph reported yesterday

that Philip Hammond, the former chan-

cellor, intends to play a key role in push-

ing through legislation. And a senior

SNP MP, who described Mr Hammond

as “an absolute star”, said: “I don’t un-

derestimate what we’re up against with

[No 10 chief strategist Dominic] Cum-

mings and his merry men. I do believe

we have a majority and can stop them.”

Ian Blackford, Westminster leader of

the SNP, laid an early day motion call-

ing for a Humble Address – a direct call

from the Commons to the Monarch – to

ask that Parliament remain in session

until November. If backed, the address

would ask the Queen to “please recon-

sider your decision”.

And in an ominous warning, Kate

Osamor, the Labour MP, said: “The

Queen should look at what happened

to her cousin Tino, ex-King of Greece,

when you enable a right-wing coup!

Monarchy abolished!”

Separately, the pro-Remain cam-

paign Best for Britain wrote on Twitter:

“[Her Majesty] would do well to re-

member that history doesn’t look too

kindly on royals who aid and abet the

suspension of democracy.”

‘Her Majesty

would do

well to

remember

that history

doesn’t look

too kindly

on royals

who aid

and abet

the

suspension

of

democracy’

‘Surely at

this early

stage in his

premiership,

the Prime

Minister

should be

seeking to

establish

rather than

undermine

his

democratic

credentials’

ning to vote against leaving Westmin-

ster for the gatherings to allow more

time to consider Brexit. Instead the

Commons breaks up between Sept 9

and Sept 12, not returning until Oct 14.

In Scotland, friends of Ms Davidson

said her decision to quit was driven by

her desire to spend more time with her

10-month-old son Finn, although she

has been at loggerheads with Mr John-

son over Brexit. The timing of the an-

nouncement could hardly have been

worse for the Prime Minister.

Her resignation is a major blow to

the Tories as she oversaw the party’s

revival in Scotland after years in the po-

litical wilderness, and has already in-

creased speculation that the Scottish

Tories could become separate party.

European politicians reacted to the

day’s events by saying there was an “ill-

ness” in British democracy.

2 **^ Thursday 29 August 2019 The Daily Telegraph

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