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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
Politics
Matthew Weaver, Amy Walker, Kate Lyons and Kevin Rawlinson

Jeremy Corbyn says he will try to 'politically stop' prorogation with legislation – as it happened

Closing summary

We’re going to close down this live blog now, so here’s a summary of the day’s events:

  • The leaders of the opposition parties have written to the prime minister demanding that he either reverse his decision to suspend parliament or put it to a Commons vote. In a joint statement, they condemned Boris Johnson’s “undemocratic” move.
  • The former de facto deputy prime minister David Lidington joined those condemning prorogation, describing it as an attempt to gag parliament. “If this had been done by a Labour government, Jacob Rees-Mogg would have been leading the denunciations of it,” he told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme.
  • Lord Young quit as a government whip in the Lords over Boris Johnson’s decision. He said it “risks undermining the fundamental role of parliament” in his resignation letter.
  • Shortly afterwards, Ruth Davidson confirmed her resignation as leader of the Scottish Conservatives. Although she stressed the decision had been made for family reasons, in her resignation letter she acknowledged: “I have not hidden the conflict I have felt over Brexit.”
  • An attempt was made in a Scottish court to reverse the decision to suspend parliament. Lord Doherty, presiding over the hearing, said he would consider the issue overnight and give his ruling at 10am tomorrow.
  • The defence secretary, Ben Wallace, was caught on mic apparently admitting the real reason parliament was prorogued. Speaking to his French counterpart at a summit in Helsinki, Wallace could be heard explaining the decision. He said: “Parliament has been very good at saying what it doesn’t want. It has been awful at saying what it wants. That’s the reality. So eventually any leader has to, you know, try.”
  • Momentum, the pro-Jeremy Corbyn movement, called for street protests and blockades to stop what it called a coup. Laura Parker, the group’s national coordinator, said: “Our message to Johnson is this: if you steal our democracy, we’ll shut down the streets.”
  • Corbyn said parliament will “legislate rapidly” on Tuesday, when it resumes, to prevent Boris Johnson from suspending parliament and to stop a no-deal Brexit. Speaking to Sky News, the Labour leader described the move as “a smash-and-grab raid against our democracy”.

If you’d like to read yet more on today’s politics news, my colleague Jessica Elgot has the full story:

The devolved administrations need greater funding to deal with the effects of Brexit, finance ministers from the Scottish and Welsh governments have claimed.

The Welsh finance minister, Rebecca Evans, and the Scottish finance secretary, Derek Mackay, warned that the Treasury’s plans for a one-year spending round – as opposed to a three-year comprehensive spending review – will leave them “short-changed”.

Evans said a meeting with the chief secretary to the Treasury, Rishi Sunak, on Thursday was “little comfort”.

I am disappointed that the chief secretary failed to provide us with the clarity, honesty and commitment that we have repeatedly called for from the UK government.

Despite being promised a three-year comprehensive spending review at our last finance ministers’ meeting, we now face a one-year spending round next week. That review cannot leave us short-changed again.

After nine years of austerity, our Welsh government budget is 5% lower in real terms than it was back in 2010.

We currently face the prospect of a no-deal Brexit, and in those circumstances, we know that the economy in Wales is likely to be around 10% smaller in the long term.

This would be reflected in real incomes that, in today’s terms, would be up to £2,000 lower per person than otherwise.

Mackay said:

The actions of the UK government in attempting to shut down parliament to force through a no-deal outcome means that the UK stands on the cusp of an economic crisis.

Alongside my Welsh counterpart, I made it abundantly clear to the chief secretary to the Treasury the impact that a no-deal Brexit will have on Scotland’s economy and jobs.

I also urged him to provide a cast-iron guarantee that all lost EU funding will be replaced in full by the UK government. The chief secretary failed to provide those assurances and so I challenged him to work with us to agree a new framework for future funding allocations.

With a no-deal scenario looking increasingly more likely, the current financial arrangements are not fit for purpose.

We need a new agreement to ensure that the Scottish and Welsh governments have the necessary powers to help mitigate, as best we can, the damage caused by the UK government’s no-deal actions.

The decision to only part-fund additional costs resulting from changes to public sector pensions further demonstrates the need for a new framework so that the UK government fairly respects devolved administrations.

Updated

Opposition leaders unite against prorogation

Opposition leaders have demanded that Boris Johnson either reverse his decision to suspend parliament or put it to a Commons vote. The leaders of Labour, the SNP, the Liberal Democrats, Plaid Cymru, the Independent Group for Change and the Greens, say:

It is our view that there is a majority in the House of Commons that does not support this prorogation, and we demand that the prime minister reverses this decision immediately or allows MPs to vote on whether there should be one.

We condemn the undemocratic actions of Boris Johnson following his suspension of parliament until 14 October.

There is no mandate from the public for a damaging no-deal Brexit. The prime minister is shutting down parliament with the sole aim of stopping MPs from avoiding a no-deal Brexit.

This will be the longest prorogation in recent history, and one that comes at a critical moment in the history of our respective nations and the Brexit process.

Voters are being deprived of the opportunity to have their representatives hold the government to account, make any key decisions, and ensure there is a lawful basis for any action that is taken.

Updated

The former justice secretary David Gauke has already made clear his opposition to the prorogation of parliament and his belief that it will embolden opposition to a no-deal Brexit. Now, he has told the BBC:

We are very concerned about what no deal is going to involve. It’s probably not in our interests to be very specific about what the proposals might be as to how we would do that.

I think there are many of us who would be inclined to say that parliament doesn’t need to take action for a while yet.

But, given the announcement from (Wednesday) that parliament is only going to be sitting for a week next week and then really at the end of October – by which point it will be too late for parliament to do anything effective, then I do think we have to look at what our options are next week.

The fact is there isn’t a mandate for a no-deal Brexit. It is not what was campaigned for in 2016.

It is not what the public want. According to opinion polls, only about a third of the public would support that and I think as the consequences of no deal become clear, that number may well fall.

So, I think parliament does have a responsibility to act and it may well be that next week is the only opportunity for us to do so.

Updated

The latest Guardian Politics Weekly podcast has just gone out.

Jessica Elgot and her guests react to the prime minister’s suspension of parliament for five weeks from mid-September, an act the Commons Speaker, John Bercow, called a “constitutional outrage”, and Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn said was a “threat to our democracy”

Jessica is joined by the Guardian journalists Rafael Behr, Owen Jones and Sonia Sodha to analyse Boris Johnson’s motives and what steps are available for MPs returning to the Commons next week.

Updated

Richard Harrington, a former Tory minister and a vocal critic both Boris Johnson and Theresa May’s Brexit strategies, will stand down at the next general election.

The MP for Watford resigned as a business minister in March and said May’s government was “playing roulette with the lives and livelihoods of the vast majority of people in this country”.

Following Wednesday’s news that Johnson plans to prorogue parliament, Harrington has told the Watford Observer:

I think suspending parliament increases a no-deal and I will do everything in my power to ensure that won’t happen.

The more time there is to debate, the more chance there is of reaching a compromise.

According to the Sun, Harrington also indicated he would vote to block a no-deal Brexit.

In a statement explaining his decision to stand down, Harrington added:

Having had the privilege of serving as MP for Watford for almost 10 years, I have decided to retire from frontline politics. It had always been my intention to step down at the next general election, due under the Fixed Term Parliament Act in 2022.

However, with the current increasing uncertainty about an earlier election, I believe it right for me to make clear my intentions now. Therefore, I have told my constituency chairman that I will not be offering myself for selection as the Conservative party candidate for the next general election, whenever that may be.

Until then, I shall continue to devote myself to serving all my constituents – as I have done since they first elected me in 2010.

In that general election, we Conservatives took what was then a closely contested three-way marginal seat from Labour. I am proud that we subsequently held the seat in the general elections of 2015 and 2017 and I give my sincere thanks to voters for the confidence they have shown in me.

Being MP for Watford has allowed me to meet so many people from visiting schools, businesses, charities and other organisations and groups. I have learned a great deal from them. I will continue to offer my support for such community groups in the future, and will do my best to help my successor, in whatever way I can.

Harrington voted three times for the withdrawal agreement and has also indicated his support for a second referendum in the past.

Updated

Here’s an evening summary of yet another astonishing day in politics:

  • The former de facto deputy prime minister David Lidington joined those condemning prorogation, describing it as an attempt to gag parliament. “If this had been done by a Labour government, Jacob Rees-Mogg would have been leading the denunciations of it,” he told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme.
  • Lord Young quit as a government whip in the Lords over Boris Johnson’s decision, saying it “risks undermining the fundamental role of parliament” in his resignation letter.
  • Shortly after, Ruth Davidson confirmed her resignation as leader of the Scottish Conservatives. Although she stressed the decision had been made for family reasons, in her resignation letter she acknowledged: “I have not hidden the conflict I have felt over Brexit.”
  • An attempt was made in a Scottish court to reverse the decision to suspend parliament. Lord Doherty, presiding over the hearing, said he would consider the issue overnight and give his ruling at 10am tomorrow.
  • The defence secretary, Ben Wallace, was caught on mic apparently admitting the real reason parliament was prorogued. Speaking to his French counterpart at a summit in Helsinki, Wallace could be heard explaining the decision. He said: “Parliament has been very good at saying what it doesn’t want. It has been awful at saying what it wants. That’s the reality. So eventually any leader has to, you know, try.”
  • Momentum, the pro-Jeremy Corbyn movement, called for street protests and blockades to stop what it called a coup. Laura Parker, the group’s national coordinator, said: “Our message to Johnson is this: if you steal our democracy, we’ll shut down the streets.”
  • Corbyn said parliament will “legislate rapidly” on Tuesday, when it resumes, to prevent Boris Johnson from suspending parliament and to stop a no-deal Brexit. Speaking to Sky News, the Labour leader described the move as “a smash-and-grab raid against our democracy”.

I’m off now - my colleague Kevin Rawlinson is taking over.

Updated

Richard J Evans, one of Britain’s foremost historians of Germany and the Third Reich, has written a piece for Prospect magazine in which he compares present day Britain and the US to Weimar Germany.

He notes there have been signals that a potential vote of no confidence could be shrugged off with contempt by Boris Johnson.

“If that were to happen, parliamentary democracy would truly be in trouble in this country. This is Britain’s Reichstag Fire Decree moment,” Evans writes.

Updated

Speaking in Dunfermline, at the start of a three-day tour of Scotland, the Labour leader, Jeremy Corbyn, insisted MPs could still have time to move legislation to prevent a no-deal Brexit, but also had some cautionary words for Scottish nationalists.

While the SNP leader and first minister, Nicola Sturgeon, yesterday said that Boris Johnson’s conduct in shutting down parliament had made independence “almost inevitable” - and Ruth Davidson’s resignation has also prompted speculation about the future of the union - today Corbyn warned that a Labour government would not allow another Scottish independence vote to be held in its “formative years”.

Earlier this month, Corbyn’s shadow chancellor, John McDonnell, told an Edinburgh fringe event that a Labour government would not oppose a second independence referendum – directly contradicting Scottish Labour policy.

Today Corbyn said: “I want there to be a Labour government in this country and I want that Labour government to be able to deliver for the people of Scotland as for the rest of the UK.

“It’s not my priority that there should be an independence referendum in Scotland.”

Updated

More protests are being announced. On Tuesday, Ireland-based Brits are scheduled to rally outside the British embassy in Dublin against Brexit and the suspension of parliament, TheJournal.ie reports.

Campaign group Brits Not Out was formed in response to Johnson’s decision to suspend parliament.

“We are calling on the many British nationals who have made their lives in Ireland to join our protest against this outrageous and undemocratic act,” spokesperson Grace Williams told the publication.

“We care deeply about British democracy and the negative impact that Brexit – especially a hard Brexit – will have on our families, friends and communities in the UK. And we care equally about the threat that Brexit poses to jobs, peace and prosperity on this island, where we’ve been welcomed and where are now living our lives.”

Updated

Other MPs’ positions on the subject of prorogation are also coming under scrutiny. Tory MP Alex Clark has been facing pro-EU protesters outside his office in Cheltenham.

He told constituents that “the actual concrete practical difference” of suspending parliament is modest but admitted “the political implications are great”.

He added, in footage posted to Twitter by BBC reporter Hayley Mortimer: “I’ve made my position clear, what the implications of that are will be for the chief whip.”

Updated

Downing Street has reacted to that on-air gaffe earlier by the defence secretary, Ben Wallace. He apparently “misspoke”:

Updated

Jeremy Corbyn says he will try to 'politically stop' Johnson through legislation

The Labour leader has said parliament will “legislate rapidly” on Tuesday, when it resumes, to prevent Boris Johnson from suspending parliament and stop a no-deal Brexit.

Speaking to Sky News, Corbyn said: “We will be back in parliament on Tuesday to challenge Boris Johnson on what I think is a smash-and-grab raid against our democracy.

“He’s trying to suspend parliament in order to prevent a serious discussion and a serious debate to prevent a no-deal Brexit.

“What we’re going to do is try to politically stop him on Tuesday with a parliamentary process in order to legislate to prevent a no-deal Brexit and also to try and prevent him shutting down parliament during this utterly crucial period.”

Updated

Hi, this is Amy Walker taking over from Matt Weaver. David Miliband, the former foreign secretary, has spoken about the prorogation of parliament on a visit to Venezuelan refugees in Colombia (in his role as chief executive of the International Rescue Committee).

He told the Guardian’s Joe Parkin Daniels:

“It’s an appalling day for British parliamentary democracy. The idea that parliament is a threat to good government rather than the basis of good government is completely contrary to everything we know about British history, never mind international history. I think that it is absolutely right for parliamentarians to fight for their right to sit and to hold government to account not just on Brexit but on a range of issues. The excuses that have been given by the government this morning have been truly pathetic. A strong government welcomes a strong parliament, one can only conclude that it is a weak government if it fears parliamentary scrutiny.”

Updated

An application at the high court to challenge Boris Johnson’s move in London is “being considered”, a spokeswoman for the judiciary has said.

An urgent application for a judicial review has been made by campaigner Gina Miller, who previously won a landmark ruling that MPs would have to vote before the government could invoke article 50 to formally start the UK’s exit process from the EU.

The judiciary spokeswoman said on Thursday: “We can confirm that an application for judicial review has been received from Gina Miller. The defendant is the prime minister. The application is being considered.”

Updated

Philip Pullman has denied wanting to hang Boris Johnson after being widely criticised for a tweet about the prime minister, PA reports.

The author said in a since-deleted post on Twitter that he thinks of a “rope” and “the nearest lamp-post” when he hears Johnson’s name.

After the backlash Pullman said he had made a “tactical error” but refused to apologise for his anger at the prime minister’s decision to suspend parliament.

In the original tweet, Pullman said: “When I hear the name ‘Boris Johnson’, for some reason the words ‘rope’ and ‘nearest lamp-post’ come to mind as well.”

Following criticism online, the Northern Lights author blamed recent political events for his post and said he wanted to make it “perfectly clear” that he did not want to kill the prime minister.

Updated

Daniel Hannan, the arch Eurosceptic Tory MEP, is warning of another Windrush scandal after being contacted by EU nationals denied settled status after Brexit.

Hannan is echoing concerns of the Labour party. When the home secretary, Priti Patel, suggested ending freedom of movement immediately on 31 October, Jeremy Corbyn warned this could lead to a situation like “Windrush on steroids”.

Updated

Momentum: 'We'll shut down the streets'

Laura Parker, the national organiser of Momentum
Laura Parker, the national organiser of Momentum Photograph: Christian Sinibaldi/The Guardian

Momentum, the grassroots group set up to support Jeremy Corbyn, has called for street protests and road blockades to stop what it calls a coup.

Laura Parker, the group’s national coordinator, said: “Our message to Johnson is this: if you steal our democracy, we’ll shut down the streets.”

Momentum, together with trade unions, have organised protests in Glasgow, Leeds, Liverpool, London, Manchester, Newcastle, Nottingham, Oxford, Sheffield and York on Saturday and a further demonstration in London next Tuesday when parliament returns.

Parker will be joining an occupation of parliament next week.

She said:

“Eton-educated, millionaire Boris Johnson is stealing our democracy so he can sell off our NHS to big US corporations in a no-deal, Trump-first Brexit.

This is an establishment coup by a tiny, privileged elite who have been eroding our democracy for decades.

Real power doesn’t sit with the Queen or in parliament. It’s with us, the people – and that’s why we need to take action.

There are thousands of us who will join an occupation of parliament and block the roads before we let Johnson close the doors on democracy.

Today we’re going to contact all Momentum supporters and encourage them to protest, occupy and blockade on Saturday.”

Updated

Irish ministers have distanced themselves from comments made by a government colleague who compared Boris Johnson to Oliver Cromwell, PA reports.

In a tweet, which he later deleted, the minister of state, Michael D’Arcy, said the UK prime minister’s decision to suspend parliament was “perhaps the most anti-democratic decision since the Protectorate government, which Oliver Cromwell set up, was established”.

The minister for business, Heather Humphreys, said: “First of all, Minister D’Arcy has removed that tweet.

“As far as we are concerned, we are not going to comment on internal British politics.”

The minister for communications, Richard Bruton, said: “We are not going to get involved in British politics because they have a lot of decisions to make.

“Undoubtedly, the decisions that they make will have a big impact on us and we need to give them the time and space to do that,”
Bruton said.

Johnson’s decision to suspend the House of Commons created a greater risk of a hard Brexit.

“Very clearly, the issue of resolving this is in Boris Johnson’s court and I think we await the developments in British politics,” he said.

Updated

SNP MP Joanna Cherry outside the Court of Session, Parliament House in Edinburgh, where parliamentarians are seeking an interim interdict through the Scottish legal system that would prevent the UK Parliament being suspended
SNP MP Joanna Cherry outside the court of session, at Parliament House in Edinburgh, where parliamentarians are seeking an interim interdict through the Scottish legal system that would prevent the UK parliament being suspended. Photograph: Jane Barlow/PA

Here’s PA’s take on the legal bid in Scotland highest civil court to try to prevent Johnson from suspending parliament.

A cross-party group of around 70 MPs and peers are backing the action at the court of session in Edinburgh after beginning a legal move earlier in the summer when they filed a petition aiming to stop Johnson being able to prorogue parliament.

They are now seeking an interim interdict, which would stop the prime minister taking the option of suspension until a final decision has been made on the case.

Aidan O’Neill QC, representing the petitioners, said the prorogation was “unprecedented” and the petitioners are invoking the court’s “constitutional jurisdiction”.

He said:

“Prorogation is being used to create something which is irreversible, that the UK will be made to leave the EU deal or no deal, do or die, and parliament is being prevented by abuse of the power of prorogation from doing anything about it. There are no precedents for the abuse of prorogation.

“The power of prorogation is not one which is unlimited or unfettered but has to be used in accordance with public trust.”

The case is being heard by Lord Doherty. O’Neill said the Queen should be obliged to recall the prorogation order if it turned out to be based on an error of law. He said:

“If the court is satisfied that the advice to the sovereign given yesterday that parliament be prorogued is in fact found to be an abuse of power based on an error of law, then there should be an obligation on the sovereign to recall that order of prorogation because the sovereign is not above the law.”

The legal challenge is being led by SNP MP Joanna Cherry QC and the Liberal Democrat leader, Jo Swinson, aided by Jo Maugham of the Good Law Project.

Updated

Summary

Here’s a summary of the latest fallout from Boris Johnson’s decision to prorogue parliament.

Updated

Ruth Davidson had a frosty relationship with Boris Johnson, which she alluded to in her press conference. But Johnson glossed over those differences in a three-tweet tribute to her.

Updated

David Gauke
David Gauke. Photograph: Wiktor Szymanowicz/Rex/Shutterstock

The former justice secretary, David Gauke, has also piled in.

Speaking to BBC Radio 4 World at One programme he said: “It is not routine to prorogue parliament for five weeks. I don’t believe it is the right thing to do when we face such a crucial question about our future relationship with the European Union. The government should be scrutinised whether it’s on no-deal planning, whether it’s on the negotiations, the government should be held to account by parliamentarians.”

Gauke added: “I don’t believe that there is a mandate for leaving without a deal. That’s isn’t what was put to the people in 2016 by those campaigning to leave. And I think it would cause significant detrimental effect to the economic outlook for this country and for the integrity of the United Kingdom.”

He also conceded it was unclear how parliament could stop a no-deal and but he appeared to rule out backing a no-confidence motion in the government.

I’ve consistently said that I don’t want to see Jeremy Corbyn as prime minister. I also have to say, I think that a vote of no confidence in these circumstances is not the correct way forward. What would then happen is that we would run into a general election.

Unless another form of government was able to be created, which I very much doubt, then the existing government would be able run down the clock and take us beyond 31 of October. So I don’t believe that that is the right approach.

Parliament may need to act to stop a no deal. It does look like next week is essentially the only opportunity parliament will have to maintain some control over this process and ensure that it has a say before we leave without a deal.

I don’t think one can rule out the possibility of parliament being able to find a way through this.

Updated

The lord chief justice in Northern Ireland is to consider whether to grant an immediate injunction to block the suspension of parliament at a full hearing tomorrow.

Sir Declan Norman broke his summer holiday for a 20-minute urgent hearing this morning for an application by campaigner Raymond McCord, who has argued that a no-deal Brexit would be a breach of the Good Friday agreement.

He instructed both parties to return to court tomorrow with their “expanded arguments”.

“We are seeking an urgent injunction to compel Boris Johnson to reverse his advice to the queen to prorogue parliament,” said McCord’s lawyer, Ciaran O’Hare.

O’Hare says the decision to hear the case while the court is not in session shows the seriousness with which the judge is taking the case.

“We are confident. You now have cases in Scotland and England but in terms of litigation we believe that the Northern Ireland case is the most urgent because we argue the consequences of no deal here are worse than anywhere else in the UK,” he said.

Updated

Ben Wallace: 'I don't know what the outcome will be'

The defence secretary, Ben Wallace, has been caught on mic admitting uncertainty about what happens next in the Brexit process and conceding the weakness of the government grip on power.

Speaking to his French counterpart at a defence summit in Helsinki, Wallace could be heard explaining the decision to prorogue parliament.

He said: “Parliament has been very good at saying what it doesn’t want. It has been awful at saying what it wants. That’s the reality. So eventually any leader has to, you know, try.”

Shrugging and laughing he added: “I don’t know what the outcome will be, you know politics.”

He added this about the government’s weakness:

“Our system is a winner-takes-all system. If you win a parliamentary majority you control everything, you control the timetable. There’s no written separation. So it’s, you pretty much are in command of the whole thing. And we’ve suddenly found ourselves with no majority and a coalition and that’s not easy for our system.

Updated

The EU’s chief Brexit negotiator, Michel Barnier, appears to accept the likelihood of a no-deal Brexit.

Updated

Shadow Chancellor John McDonnell speaks during an event to set out his party’s approach to the government’s spending review
The shadow chancellor, John McDonnell, speaks during an event to set out his party’s approach to the government’s spending review. Photograph: Daniel Leal-Olivas/AFP/Getty Images

Boris Johnson has been labelled a “dictator” by John McDonnell, PA reports.

The shadow chancellor said Downing Street was being run like the Bullingdon Club, an elite group of Oxford students attended by both Johnson and former prime minister David Cameron.

He accused Johnson of “treating us like serfs” and warned the public would not tolerate his antics after the PM’s controversial decision to suspend parliament for more than a month.

MPs’ powers will be effectively suspended from 12 September until the Queen’s speech on 14 October after the Queen ratified Johnson’s request for a suspension of more than four weeks - the longest prorogation in modern memory.

McDonnell said: “I just give Boris Johnson this warning, really. Trying to undermine the very institution that people have given their lives for, to secure this democracy – to try to undermine that flies in the face of a whole history and centuries of democratic advancement in this country.

“I don’t think the British people will tolerate that. They have stood up to dictators before and they will stand up to this one as well.”

Updated

Some cabinet ministers have been much quicker to pay tribute to Ruth Davidson than they have to defend Boris Johnson’s decision to prorogue parliament.

Updated

Raymond McCord
Raymond McCord. Photograph: Daniel Leal-Olivas/AFP/Getty Images

A legal bid in Belfast to injunct Boris Johnson’s move to suspend parliament has been adjourned for 24 hours.

The injunction application was made by prominent victims campaigner Raymond McCord, who was already pursing legal proceedings against the potential proroguing of parliament.

Northern Ireland’s lord chief justice, Sir Declan Morgan, sat in Belfast high court on Thursday morning for a briefing hearing during which he gave the legal parties 24 hours to prepare for a substantive hearing, which will be heard at 10am on Friday.

Afterwards, McCord told the PA news agency: “I don’t want a Brexit, more importantly I don’t want a no-deal Brexit and also I don’t want parliament suspended.

“I think it is totally against the democratic process and it’s unconstitutional, and it’s being done for political purposes - it’s not being done for the good of the people.”

Updated

Brexit envoy David Frost leaves EU headquarters after a meeting with EU negotiators in Brussels
The Brexit envoy, David Frost, leaves EU headquarters after a meeting with EU negotiators in Brussels. Photograph: Francisco Seco/AP

Boris Johnson’s Brexit envoy offered the European Union no new ideas in finding a way out of the Brexit impasse, Brussels sources have said.

David Frost, the prime minister’s Europe adviser, held a series of meetings at EU institutions in Brussels on Wednesday. He met officials working for EU chief Brexit negotiator, Michel Barnier, as well as Jean-Claude Juncker’s chief of staff, Clara Martínez Alberola.

According to a diplomatic note of one meeting, seen by the Guardian, Frost downplayed the prime minister’s suspension of parliament, describing it as normal. He also told his interlocutors that Johnson wanted a deal, but was not afraid of no deal.

The UK government appears to be seeking to convince the EU that it can bounce parliament into accepting any rewritten deal. Frost told EU officials that it would be possible to ratify a Brexit deal in the second half of October and argued that a technical extension would not be necessary.

This strategy matches Johnson’s pledge to leave the EU on 31 October “do or die”.

But EU diplomats remain sceptical that a solution to the thorny question of the Irish backstop can be devised in 64 days. The backstop is an insurance plan to avoid a hard border on the island of Ireland and would keep the UK in an EU customs area until both sides agree another plan. The backstop kicks in automatically, if EU and UK negotiators fail to come up with mutually acceptable alternative arrangements.

Many EU insiders that a solution that has eluded experts for two years can be agreed in the next few weeks. One EU diplomat told the Guardian that Frost offered no new ideas on Wednesday.

EU officials are expecting the UK to propose ideas in the coming weeks; the European commission has said to ensure a deal, it wanted to see those ideas “the earlier, the better”.

Frost, who called for compromise on both sides, is due back in Brussels next week, but the timetable for talks remains unclear. The British government announced both sides would “intensify discussions” as of next week.

Updated

Updates from the legal attempt to stop the suspension of parliament:

Updated

Summary

Here’s a summary of the latest fallout from Boris Johnson’s decision to suspend parliament:

  • A legal bid to prevent Johnson from proroguing parliament will be heard in court on Thursday afternoon. The hearing is scheduled to take place at Parliament House in Edinburgh at 12pm, with Lord Doherty presiding. A separate attempt to stop the move is also under way at the high court in Belfast.
  • Ruth Davidson has confirmed her decision to resign as leader of the Scottish Conservatives. In her resignation letter she cited both the conflict she feels over Brexit and her desire to achieve a better balance between her working and family life.
  • Lord Young of Cookham, a government whip in the Lords, has resigned. He said he was “very unhappy” with the decision to prorogue parliament for an extended period as the the 31 October deadline for Brexit looms.
  • Jacob Rees-Mogg, the leader of the Commons, has defended the decision to suspend parliament and claimed the outpouring of outrage it triggered was “confected”. He also accused the Speaker, John Bercow, of being constitutionally “improper” by criticising the move.
  • The former de facto deputy prime minister David Lidington has joined those condemning prorogation, describing it as an attempt to gag parliament. He said: “It prevents MPs from asking questions. It prevents many ministers from being held to account by parliamentary select committees. And I think that is not a good way to do democracy.”
  • Bob Kerslake, a former head of the civil service, said that if he was in post under a government that prorogued parliament in the way Johnson did, he would resign. “I think it is unacceptable behaviour going on at the moment,” he said.

Updated

Legal attempt to stop parliament's suspension brought forward

An attempt in a Scottish court to reverse the decision to suspend parliament has been brought forward to noon today.

Lawyers acting for the Scottish National party’s Joanna Cherry and 74 other MPs and peers had expected to be in court in Edinburgh on Friday morning to urge Scotland’s civil court, the court of session, to block the suspension of parliament.

The hearing is scheduled to take place at Parliament House at 12pm, with Lord Doherty presiding.

Jolyon Maugham QC, the anti-Brexit lawyer who helped coordinate the legal challenge through his Good Law Project, said they believed the courts would be able to reverse the decision even though it had been approved by the Queen.

Updated

Asked for his response to the prospect of an early election, McDonnell said:

“Bring it on. The issue for us now is that we have to do everything we can, working on a cross-party basis, to block a no-deal Brexit.

“We’ve seen the impact it could have on our country and living standards. That’s what we’ll work on. We’ll use every parliamentary device we possibly can. If that means a vote of no confidence at some stage, then we’re open to it, that is on the table.”

Updated

Reaction to Davidson’s resignation:

Updated

John McDonnell
John McDonnell Photograph: Kirsty O’Connor/PA

John McDonnell, the shadow chancellor, said the upcoming spending review was a “panic-driven stunt”.

He said: “Nobody is fooled that this is a proper and normal spending review. It is a one-year only, panic-driven stunt budget.”

McDonnell said Boris Johnson and the chancellor, Sajid Javid, were attempting to “shift enough votes to get them into power” with next Wednesday’s expected statement.

He added: “If nothing else, this has proved what we have said all along. Austerity was always a political choice, not an economic necessity.”

McDonnell said Johnson’s decision to suspend parliament for more than a month shows his “deep-seated arrogant sense of entitlement”.

He added: “The last 24 hours have revealed the true character of Boris Johnson and, as importantly, the real nature of his politics.

“It’s exposed in Johnson a deep-seated arrogant sense of entitlement. Johnson sees himself not as a modern-day prime minister, whose authority rests upon the support of a parliamentary democracy.

“Instead, his actions betray that he’s reverted to a much older Tory tradition. He’s a ruler, ruling over the ruled.

“Democratic practices like parliamentary votes have become encumbrances to the freedom of the ruler. And how dare the broadcast media seek to pose questions and ask for an interview or anything more than a short clip of him grinning.”

Updated

Leader of the Scottish Conservatives, Ruth Davidson, announces her resignation during a press conference at Holyrood Hotel in Edinburgh
Leader of the Scottish Conservatives, Ruth Davidson, announces her resignation during a press conference at Holyrood Hotel in Edinburgh Photograph: Jane Barlow/PA

Davidson stopped short of condemning Johnson’s decision to prorogue parliament.

Here’s what she told journalists:

We had three golden opportunities to support a deal. The people right now who are saying they would do anything to avoid no deal had a goal gaping in front of them three times and they hit the ball over the bar. For all the elaborate plans of bringing down governments and installing Ken Clarke and Harriet Harman on job shares as prime minister, the simplest way to avoid no deal is to vote for a deal.

To colleagues who want to avoid no deal: vote for a deal. You’ve had three opportunities, you blew every one of them don’t blow a fourth. I know the prime minister is seeking to get a deal. I’ve had long conversations with him on this point. And I believe him when he says that he’s seeking to get a deal. And please ... make it clear now that if a deal comes back to the House of Commons, you will vote for it and let the EU hear you say that you will vote for it so that they understand that there is a reason for them to reopen negotiations.

If the prime minister brings a deal back to the House of Commons as I know he is trying to do, for God’s sake, get behind it and this time at the fourth time of asking vote for it.

I stand absolutely foursquare behind the prime minister’s attempts to bring back a deal that can pass in the House of Commons.

There has been a lot that’s been written about my relationship with the prime minister and I went out to Downing Street to meet him last week in a private meeting. I stared him right in the eye. I asked him out: ‘I need to know are you actually trying to get a deal or not?’ And he categorically assured me that he was. He believes that his efforts in Biarritz has helped open the door a crack. I know that what would help further would be for people who want to avoid no deal, to come out and say that if a deal is brought back to parliament, that they would back, in the way that they have failed to do three times already. So I want him to get that deal. I believe that’s what he and his government are working towards. And I support him in those efforts.

Updated

In her Q&A with reporters, Davidson urged MPs to vote for a deal to avoid a no-deal Brexit at the “fourth time of asking”. Repeating what she told Boris Johnson in private, Davidson called on the prime minister to secure a deal in Brussels.

She said Johnson “categorically” assured her that he was trying to get a deal. “I support him in that effort,” she said.

Updated

An attempt to injunct Boris Johnson’s suspension of parliament is under way at the high court in Belfast.

The application for an injunction has been made by solicitors acting for the victims campaigner Raymond McCord.

In a statement, McCord’s lawyers said a hearing had been granted for 10am this morning in front of the lord chief justice.

McCord is already involved in one of three sets of legal proceedings arguing a no-deal Brexit would breach the Good Friday agreement and his case was listed as the lead case with a hearing scheduled for next month.

Updated

Ruth Davidson is making a statement on her resignation in Edinburgh.

In her resignation letter Davidson added:

I fear that having tried to be a good leader over the years, I have proved a poor daughter, sister, partner and friend. The party and my work has always come first, often at the expense of commitments to loved ones. The arrival of my son means I now make a different choice.”

Updated

Ruth Davidson confirms resignation

Ruth Davidson has confirmed her resignation as leader of the Conservatives in Scotland.

In her resignation letter she stressed the decision was made for family reasons but acknowledges: “I have not hidden the conflict I have felt over Brexit.”

Updated

Lord Young resigns as government whip in the Lords

George Young
George Young Photograph: Facundo Arrizabalaga/EPA

Lord Young has quit as a government whip in the Lords over Boris Johnson’s decision to prorogue parliament.

In his resignation letter he said: “I am very unhappy at the timing and length of the prorogation ... [it] risks undermining the fundamental role of parliament.”

Updated

Cabinet ministers who have in the very recent past expressed opposition to proroguing parliament are now tight-lipped.

The work and pensions secretary, Amber Rudd, declined to answer questions on the suspension of parliament during a visit to Belfast.

In June, Rudd described the suggestion of proroguing parliament as “absolutely outrageous”, “extraordinary” and “ridiculous”.

She did not comment on the matter when asked about it by PA Media after visiting a jobs and benefits office in east Belfast, instead insisting she was focused on her job.

“I’m going to continue to do my job as secretary of state for work and pensions,” she said.

Updated

Sir Tom Devine, Scotland’s pre-eminent modern historian, has called for mass protests against Boris Johnson’s decision to prorogue parliament.

Devine, professor emeritus at the University of Edinburgh, said those protests would not succeed in overturning Johnson’s move to suspend parliament without MPs from all parties also showing “guile and spine” by blocking it at Westminster.

Speaking on BBC Radio Scotland, Devine said: “We are now at a very considerable and dangerous crossroads in our democracy. [I] think it’s time for the people to react through mass protest.”

He added: “This is a crisis and this is an emergency.”

The author of several bestselling histories of Scotland and its global diaspora, Devine was knighted in 2014, given the royal medal by the Queen in 2001 and made an OBE in 2005.

He cited the warnings yesterday from Lord Kerslake, the former head of the UK civil service, that civil servants needed to examine their consciences about enabling Johnson’s policies, and also the PM’s decision to make the Queen agree to prorogument.

That was “playing with fire” and risked damaging popular respect for the monarchy, Devine said. Party leaders should consider cancelling their annual party conferences, due to start next month. Beyond the current crisis, Johnson’s gambit would also fuel support for Scottish independence.

Johnson was “the greatest recruiting sergeant for the SNP and for independence since Margaret Thatcher,” Devine said.

“We have unambiguous evidence of the complete indifference of this current gang to preserve the union. This is another major blow, another major battering ram against the integrity of what the previous prime minister called ‘our precious union’.

“It is almost as if Johnson and his ilk has conceived a plan to destroy the UK because of their exclusive obsession with delivering Brexit.”

Updated

That petition against proroguing parliament has now passed 1.3m.

A YouGov poll for the Times, conducted before Johnson prorogued parliament, puts the Conservatives 12% above Labour.

Updated

Sam Gyimah, the former universities minister who resigned over Brexit, has become the latest Tory backbencher to criticise the suspension of parliament.

Speaking to BBC News, he said: “We know that if Jeremy Corbyn had done this they would have rightly criticised him for using Trotskyite tactics to get his way.

“We should not be using those tactics ourselves.”

Gyimah said that suspending parliament was part of a plan to “muzzle” MPs over a no-deal Brexit. He added:

“What is so worrying is what we are reading in the papers that this is the first in a series of moves to make sure parliament is muzzled on the subject of scrutinising Brexit.

“If Boris Johnson genuinely believes that his position of a no-deal Brexit is the will of the people, then rather than trafficking our constitution he should go to the people for a mandate. There is no mandate for a no-deal Brexit.”

Updated

Jeremy Corbyn is in Scotland, where he said a second referendum on independence would not take place in the “formative years” of a Labour government.

PA Media has this:

The Labour leader said if he was voted into Downing Street he would be focused on the “central priorities” of dealing with Brexit, ending austerity and acting to tackle the climate emergency.

He said: “In the formative years of a Labour government we wouldn’t agree to another independence referendum because we will be fully focused on these central priorities.

“However, if at some future point there was a legitimate and fresh mandate, we wouldn’t block it.”

Scottish Labour had been opposed to another ballot on independence being held, after voters backed staying in the UK by 55% to 45% in 2014.

However, the UK shadow chancellor, John McDonnell ,recently said the party would not stand in the way of a second referendum.

Richard Leonard, the party’s Scottish leader, said he was in agreement with Corbyn on the timing of a possible second ballot.

He confirmed: “Jeremy and I have agreed that, during the formative years of an incoming Labour government, we would not sanction a Section 30 order to allow a further referendum on Scottish independence to take place.”

Leonard added: “It would also only be acceptable to a Labour government to allow a second referendum to proceed if it could be demonstrated that there was a fresh mandate for such a vote to be held. This would require a democratic mandate from the people of Scotland, which clearly signals the majority of people are in favour of a new vote.

“I do not believe that the conditions exist for such a move today, nor will they for the foreseeable future.”

Details of the agreement between the two leaders on the timing of a possible Scottish referendum emerged ahead of Corbyn making a campaign trip north of the border.
And he argued that, while a no-deal Brexit would be a “disaster” for Scotland and the rest of the UK, ending the union with England would worsen austerity for Scots and “create more instability and chaos”.

Corbyn said: “Boris Johnson’s pursuit of a no-deal Brexit will be a disaster for the whole country. He is putting at risk Scottish jobs in manufacturing, food processing and service industries. His intention to suspend parliament shows he is also a threat to our democracy.”

Updated

Ruth Davidson has spoken briefly to the Scottish Daily Mail in advance of her press conference later this morning.

She said that, whilst she understood the speculation around her decision and its timing, her departure had been planned prior to the prime minister’s decision to suspend parliament yesterday.

Davidson said: “Those of us who are lucky enough to serve in political leadership accept the toll it takes, but there’s a part of us which can never accept the effect it has in family and friends.”

She added that her party was in “great shape” and would continue to hold the SNP to account.

Ruth Davidson, the leader of the Conservatives in Scotland, is to give a statement at 11am when she is expected to resign.

Bob Kerslake, a former head of the civil service, said that if he was in post under a government that prorogued parliament in the way Johnson did, he would resign.

Yesterday he told Polly Toynbee: “We are reaching the point where the civil service must consider putting its stewardship of the country ahead of service to the government of the day.”

Kerslake told Today: “It’s for each individual to consider how far this has gone”.

Updated

John Bercow gave an interesting interview to Tortoise Media before yesterday’s decision.

Asked if parliament could stop a no deal, he said: “Yes it can have its say. It will decide what it wants. The idea that parliament would be evacuated from the centre stage of Brexit decision-making is unimaginable, it is inconceivable and it simply is not going to happen.”

He added: “Naysayers contending there is nothing MPs can do, they are entitled to their opinion, but they suffer from the very grave disadvantage of being wrong.”

Updated

Jacob Rees-Mogg has also criticised Gus O’Donnell, the former cabinet secretary, for claiming the government put the Queen in a difficult position by asking her to approve the prorogation of parliament.

Rees-Mogg told Today: “It was simply wrong and deeply irresponsible of him to say that. The Queen had no discretion over this. There is no precedent for the Queen refusing a request by her prime minister under these circumstances.

“This is a straightforward decision by the prime minister giving formal advice to the sovereign, which a constitutional monarch is obliged to follow. Lord O’Donnell is saying things that are damaging to the constitution and wrong.”

Rees-Mogg gave no details of his meeting with the Queen at Balmoral yesterday, but he said there was no discussion about prorogation, the Queen simply approved the decision.

And he continued to maintain that what was done was within law and precedent. He said: “The number of sitting days that is lost is in line with the averages going back to the second world war.”

Rees-Mogg also claimed that the comments by the Speaker, John Bercow, were “the most constitutionally improper thing that happened yesterday”.

He added: “The candyfloss of outrage that we’ve had over the past 24 hours – which is almost entirely confected – is from people who never wanted to leave the European Union.

“The law of the land is that we leave the European Union, and parliament voted for that on the back of a referendum where 17.4 million people voted to leave. That’s not railroading. That’s delivering a proper constitutional settlement.”

Updated

Here’s a chart on what’s likely to happen in the next few weeks:

Timetable

Updated

Nick Boles, who resigned the Tory whip over Brexit, has this:

Updated

Lidington: parliament is being gagged

The former de facto deputy prime minister David Lidington has joined those condemning prorogation, describing it as an attempt to gag parliament.

Speaking on BBC Radio 4’s Today programme, he said: “If this had been done by a Labour government, Jacob Rees-Mogg would have been leading the denunciations of it. Some of my Tory colleagues, who are cheering at the moment, would have been turning purple with rage.

“It sets a very bad precedent for future governments. It’s a pretty good rule that if you are tempted to play around with parliamentary and constitutional procedure, don’t do something that you wouldn’t want a government of a different party to do to you.”

Lidington also questioned Johnson’s rationale for the move. He said:

“If the only reason for this is to have time for the Queen’s speech, all that was necessary was for an announcement to be made saying that there would be a prorogation while parliament was in recess at the conferences, and we’d assemble for the Queen’s speech immediately after the conference season, you didn’t need the five weeks that’s proposed. There’s a big difference between what happens in a parliamentary recess and a prorogation of parliament because all parliamentary activity shuts down including committees. With a prorogation, if I put down a question to a minister that is guillotined, it just falls away.

“We are approaching a really important deadline, we’ve got a big negotiation with the European Union. And we’ve got a deadline of the end of October, which could lead to a no deal. And we need to know more about the government’s preparations for that scenario and more about the negotiations as they continue because our constituents will be affected by those decisions.

“Real people want answers and what’s happening under this proposal is parliament is being gagged. And people won’t be able to ask questions and hold ministers to account. I think that is wrong.

“What prorogation does is prevent parliament from sitting at all. And it prevents MPs from asking questions. It prevents many ministers from being held to account by parliamentary select committees. And I think that is not a good way to do democracy.”

Updated

Jacob Rees-Mogg, the leader of the Commons, has claimed the Speaker, John Bercow, was being unconstitutional by criticising the suspension of parliament.

Bercow described Johnson’s move to prorogue parliament as a “constitutional outrage”.

But Rees-Mogg claimed it was Bercow who was acting outside the constitution by making such comments, and cited William Lenthall, who served as Speaker during the English civil war.

Speaking to BBC Breakfast, Rees-Mogg said:

There is a constitutional problem with what Mr Speaker said. Speaker Lenthall said that he ‘had not eyes to see nor tongue to speak unless directed by the house’. It is not constitutional for the speaker to express his opinion without direction of the house. He has had no such direction. And therefore his comments were in a private capacity they cannot be as Mr Speaker. What he said from holiday yesterday was not directed by the house.”

Rees-Mogg added that the move to prorogue parliament is not intended to limit the time available for MPs to debate Brexit and will allow the government to tackle other issues.

He said:

Parliament wasn’t going to be sitting for most of this time anyway. This is completely constitutional and proper. There is going to be a lot of time to debate before 31 October.”

The outrage directed towards the move is “phoney” and created by people who do not want the UK to leave the EU, he added.

Updated

The shadow international trade secretary, Barry Gardiner, has conceded that it will now be “extremely difficult” for parliament to prevent a no-deal Brexit.

Speaking to BBC Radio 4’s Today programme, Gardiner condemned the suspension of parliament for five weeks as “an unprecedented outrage designed to prevent parliament passing legislation that would stop the government taking the country out of the EU without a deal”.

He added: “There is a majority in parliament who believe that leaving without a deal was not something that was suggested during the referendum. It’s not something that even leave voters considered. And there is no mandate for this.”

Asked what parliament could do to prevent a no-deal Brexit, Gardiner said:

It’s going to be extremely difficult. And that’s why the government is disingenuous to say that this is not about trying to stop us doing that.

We will be seeking measures on Monday, to try and have what’s known as a standing order section 24 debate. And we will seek to try and put through the appropriate legislation in this constrained timetable that the government has now imposed.

Downing Street is lying when it claims that this is about the conference recess. If he simply wanted to get on with his domestic agenda, he would actually be having a shorter period of prorogation.

It extremely difficult to get the necessary legislation through that would stop a no deal for which this prime minister has no mandate and could have no mandate.”

Updated

One last front page from me (thank you to the kind reader who sent it to me) before I hand the blog over to Matthew Weaver. Thanks for keeping me company, over to Matthew.

Chuka Umunna has called on Matt Hancock to resign, citing Hancock’s former absolute disdain for proroguing.

Which includes him saying that suspending parliament went against “everything that those men who waded onto those beaches fought and died for”.

Updated

Thanks to all the readers who have sent these in. Keep them coming! Feel free to tweet yourself and tag me (@MsKateLyons) and I’ll embed your tweet. Otherwise, DM me.

Read this terrific reminder of some of the things that Tory ministers once said about calls to prorogue parliament, including Matt Hancock, who once said that suspending parliament would disrespect war dead, Amber Rudd, who branded it a “ridiculous suggestion” and Sajid Javid, who said “you don’t deliver democracy by trashing democracy”.

Updated

Some international front pages. If you’re outside the UK and proroguing news has made it onto your front page, tweet me a picture and I’ll embed in the blog.

ABC in Spain says Johnson has “put the Queen into the Brexit war” and Liberation in France says we are seeing a harder and harder Brexit. De Standaard reports: “Johnson puts everything at stake for hard Brexit”. Several in Belgium call the day’s events a “coup”, including De Morgen, which labels the event a “very British coup”.

What the papers said

There is plenty of constitutional outcry on the front pages of the British papers today, which all lead with Boris Johnson’s decision to suspend parliament ahead of the looming Brexit deadline. Front pages from abroad show the international press is transfixed too.

The news has reached Courtney Love, who is devastated.

A petition calling for parliament not to be prorogued has now reached more than 1.1m signatures, perhaps you know this, perhaps you’ve signed it.

Any petition that receives more than 100,000 signatures is automatically qualified to be debated by parliament, which feels a little ironic in the situation.

If you’d like to see where in the country people are most angry about this issue (or at least most willing to click on a petition), you can see it here at this handy map.

Good morning and welcome to our coverage of the day’s political news.

It was not a nightmare, you did not dream it, yesterday Boris Johnson’s government sought and received approval from the Queen to prorogue parliament for five weeks from mid-September.

The prime minister claimed there would be “ample time” to debate Brexit, but as we know, not everyone shares this view.

The Commons Speaker, John Bercow, issued a furious statement from his holiday, saying he had not been consulted by the prime minister, and that “the move represents a constitutional outrage”.

“However it is dressed up, it is blindingly obvious that the purpose of prorogation now would be to stop parliament debating Brexit and performing its duty in shaping a course for the country,” he said.

There were protests around the country yesterday and a petition calling for parliament not to be prorogued has now reached more than 1.1m signatures. Eyes are on Ruth Davidson, the leader of the Scottish Conservatives, who is expected to quit the party over differences with Johnson.

I’ll be shepherding us along for the first hour or so before handing the blog over to my esteemed colleague Matthew Weaver. Please do get in touch on Twitter or via email (kate.lyons@theguardian.com). We’re not opening comments right now, but will do so later on.

Who knows what the day will hold, except that we’ll all be saying the word “proroguing” far more than we ever would have dreamed.

Let’s go!

Updated

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