Page QQQ Daily Mail, Thursday, August 29, 2019
BATTLE FOR BREXIT
Remainer
rebels vow
to seize
control of
Commons
out No Deal and to delay Brexit.
Any law would also need to pass
through the House of Lords before
Parliament is prorogued sometime
in the week beginning September
- Although Mr Johnson’s move
has curtailed the parliamentary
time they have available, the rebels
are still convinced that they can
get the legislation through.
Any attempt to block No Deal
would need the support of rebel
Tory MPs and last night Mr Ham-
mond indicated he could be one of
them. Branding the suspension of
Parliament ‘profoundly undemo-
cratic’, he said: ‘We are determined
that Parliament will show its resolve
to prevent a No Deal Brexit.
‘To be frank, a number of my col-
leagues would have preferred to...
move in late-September. That will
now not be possible. We will have
to try to do something when Par-
liament returns next week.
‘I’m not interested in bringing
down the Government, I simply
want the Government to recognise
that the majority in Parliament is
against a No Deal Brexit and it is
democratically essential that the
Government ensures we do not
have a No Deal Brexit.’ LiberalDemocrat leader Jo Swinson
added: ‘The Liberal Democrats
will continue both our cross-party
efforts to prevent No Deal, and our
fight to stop Brexit altogether.’
Shadow attorney general Baron-
ess Chakrabarti said that if the
legislative route did not work, the
courts could get involved. ‘I have
little doubt that the courts will
step up to protect our Parliament
and parliamentary democracy,’ she
told BBC Radio 5 Live.
Sir John Major said he was still
considering legal action to prevent
prorogation. He said: ‘I have nodoubt that the Prime Minister’s
motive is to bypass a sovereign par-
liament that opposes his policy. I
will continue to seek advice on the
legality of this and other matters.’
His former deputy, Lord Hesel-
tine, said: ‘I hope that every mem-
ber of Parliament will use every
legal and constitutional weapon to
obstruct a government proposing
to force on the British people a his-
toric change for which they have
long since lost any mandate.’
Meanwhile, a group of parliamen-
tarians has asked Scotland’s top
civil court to block Mr Johnson’sbid to suspend Parliament. They
are seeking an interim interdict –
equivalent to an injunction – that
would prevent suspension until a
full hearing on September 6. The
court is expected to consider their
motion today or tomorrow.
Tory MP Michael Fabricant
attacked Mr Bercow – who issued
his statement while on holiday. Mr
Fabricant said: ‘There have been a
number of occasions when he has
stretched the rules of the House of
Commons. So, my advice to him is
to get back on holiday and not
pontificate from afar.’they have to push through new laws before
October 31.Weren’t MPs due to rise anyway?
Yes, the Commons was expected to sit in
the first two weeks of September and then
break for three weeks for party
conferences, returning in the week of
October 7. But the suspension announced
yesterday is significantly longer – and
opposition MPs had suggested they would
vote against the conference recess anyway
to allow more time to consider Brexit.
They have no power to overturn
prorogation dates.Is anger over the move justified?
Critics including John Bercow haveWhat is Boris Johnson doing?
The Queen yesterday approved a request
from the Prime Minister to prorogue
Parliament, which will effectively suspend
it for more than a month. On Tuesday, MPs
will return from their summer break as
planned, but at some point in the following
week Parliament will rise and not sit again
until October 14. During this period, MPs
and peers will be unable to formally
debate policy or make laws.
Why is he doing it?
The Prime Minister said yesterday that it
was ‘completely untrue’ to suggest Brexit
was the reason, insisting he needed a
Queen’s Speech to set out a ‘very exciting
agenda’ of domestic policy. However, MPs
opposed to No Deal have been threatening
to block it by passing legislation that ties
Mr Johnson’s hands or bringing down his
Government. The suspension of Parliament
will severely squeeze the amount of time
branded the move a ‘constitutional
outrage’. But a Queen’s Speech kicking off
a new parliamentary term is long overdue
as the current session, which started in
June 2017, is the longest in history. No
argues that Parliament had been due to
break for its conference recess for much
of the prorogation period anyway, so MPs
are only losing a few extra days.What happens next?
Rebel MPs are planning to hold an emergency
debate next week and hope to pass legislation
blocking No Deal, but there are questions
over whether they have the numbers. Mr
Johnson has signalled that he would refuse
to comply if asked to seek a delay to Brexit.
The rebels could decide the only way to stop
No Deal is to replace the Prime Minister
through a vote of no confidence – but that
would probably mean a general election
and a possible Boris victory.What are the risks for the PM?
Opponents of No Deal have so far failed to
agree what to do. But the Prime Minister’s
shock move risks spurring them into
finally getting their act together. It could
also push Tory opponents of No Deal – who
have so far insisted they would not bring
down the Government – into changing
their minds.Is No Deal now inevitable?
No. In a letter to MPs yesterday, the
Prime Minister said he was hopeful of
negotiating a new deal at a European
Council meeting on October 17 and 18.
Allies believe if he can get to this point
then EU leaders will be staring down the
barrel at No Deal and finally agree to
remove the Irish backstop. They hope
the deal would then get passed by the
Commons, as by then it will be the only
option available to avert No Deal.ReMAINeRS backed by Philip
Hammond last night vowed to seize
control of the Commons as soon as
it returns next week and ram
through a law to block No Deal.
Despite being outflanked by Boris
Johnson’s announcement, anti-Brexit
MPs insisted yesterday they could get
the legislation passed in five days.
Their apparent aim is to pass a law
through the Commons and the Lords to
force the Prime Minister to seek an exten-
sion to Article 50 beyond October 31.
As furious plotting began in Westminster
last night, former chancellor Mr Hammond,
indicated he would join efforts to thwart
the Prime Minister’s Brexit plans.
And the pro-Remain Commons speaker
John Bercow made it clear he would do all
he could to help the rebels. Yesterday
morning, he put out an astonishing state-
ment branding the suspension of Parlia-
ment a ‘constitutional outrage’ and an
‘offence against the democratic process’.
Mr Johnson also faces possible opposi-
tion in the courts to his prorogation. Scot-
tish parliamentarians have applied for a
court injunction to mount a legal challenge
that could force the Prime Minister to
reverse the suspension.
Meanwhile, former Tory prime minister
Sir John Major suggested he was consider-
ing similar action in the english courts.
On Tuesday, Jeremy Corbyn received the
backing of five opposition parties – the
Liberal Democrats, the Greens, Change UK,
the SNP and Plaid Cymru – to pass a law to
force Mr Johnson to extend Article 50 again,
By Daniel Martin Policy Editor
‘Offence against the
democratic process’Angered: Lord Heseltine Fighting on: Jo Swinson Legal advice: John Major‘Faith in the
courts’:
Shami
ChakrabartiQ&A
beyond the current October 31 Brexit
deadline. They forced the Labour leader to
drop his preferred option of tabling a vote
of no confidence, after which he would take
over as caretaker prime minister.
Yesterday, Mr Corbyn insisted the no-
confidence plan was still on the table – but
he accepted the legislative approach was
now the priority. He said: ‘The first thing
we’ll do is attempt legislation to prevent
what [Mr Johnson] is doing’, followed by a
vote of no confidence ‘at some point’.
Under this plan, MPs could vote on Tues-
day – the day they return from summer
recess – to seize control of parliamentary
business. Another vote would follow perhaps
on Wednesday or Thursday on a piece of leg-
islation – the wording of which hasn’t yet
been published – to force Mr Johnson to rule