Jeremy Corbyn has said he will launch a bid to “politically stop” Boris Johnson proroguing parliament next week, before filing for a vote of no confidence in the prime minister “at the appropriate moment”.
A cross-party coalition of opposition MPs and Tory rebels are set to take action upon their return to Westminister on Tuesday, after Mr Johnson provoked outrage with plans for a five-week shutdown that raises the likelihood of a no-deal Brexit.
The government has dismissed anger as “phoney”, but it has been hit by the resignations of its whip in the House of Lords and Scottish Conservatives leader Ruth Davidson.
Good morning and welcome to The Independent's live political coverage as Westminster wakes up to the fallout of Boris Johnson's decision to prorogue parliament for five weeks.
More than one million people have signed a petition objecting to the prime minister's decision amid growing anger what opponents have described as a "constitutional outrage".
Thousands of people rallied for hours in Westminster on Wednesday night, and there were smaller demonstrations in other towns and cities.
Johnson insists he wants to prorogue parliament in order to bring the current record-breaking session to a close in order to bring forward his new legislative agenda, with the government branding anger over the decision "phoney".
But opposition leaders said the prime minister is trying to halt their efforts to block a no-deal Brexit.
The petitioners say parliament "must not be prorogued or dissolved unless and until the Article 50 period has been sufficiently extended or the UK's intention to withdraw from the EU has been cancelled".
Legal challenges against Johnson's decision are also being mounted, with separate bids launched in London and Edinburgh courts seeking an emergency injunction to prevent parliament being suspended.
Here's a wrap of yesterday's dramatic events from our political editor, Andrew Woodcock:
Labour's shadow international trade secretary has admitted it will be "extremely difficult" to stop a no-deal Brexit after Boris Johnson announced the suspension of parliament for more than a month.
Barry Gardiner said opposition parties would press on next week with a bid to prevent the UK crashing out of EU, but warned the "constrained timetable" may mean there is insufficient time before the 31 October leave date.
Speaking on BBC Radio 4's Today this morning, he said also said the government was "lying" about its reason for proroguing parliament.
He said: "It is going to be extremely difficult. That's why the government is disingenuous to say this is not about trying to stop us doing that.
"We will be seeking measures on Monday to try and have what is known as a Standing Order section 24 debate. We will seek to try and put through the appropriate legislation in this constrained timetable that the government has now put before us.
"Downing Street is lying when it claims this is about the conference recess. If he wanted to get on with his domestic agenda, he would in fact be having a shorter period of prorogation."
The leader of the House of Commons, Jacob Rees-Mogg, has dismissed outrage over the prime minister's decision to prorogue parliament as "phoney"
The Brexiteer Tory, who sits in Boris Johnson's cabinet, insisted the longest suspension of proceedings in Commons since 1945 was "completely constitutional and proper".
He also criticised the intervention of Commons speaker John Bercow, who yesterday called the prime minister's move a “constitutional outrage”.
Mr Rees-Mogg told the BBC: "It is not constitutional for the Speaker to express his opinion without the direction of the house.
"He has had no such direction and therefore his comments were in a private capacity. They can't be as Mr Speaker."
He added: "I think the outrage is phoney and it is created by people who don't want us to leave the European Union and are trying very hard to overturn the referendum result and don't want the benefits of leaving the European Union.
"Parliament wasn't going to be sitting for most of this time anyway. This is completely constitutional and proper."
The Queen did not question the government's request to suspend parliament for over a month, Jacob Rees-Mogg has said.
"The queen, her majesty, had no discretion over this," he told the BBC. "There is no precedent for the queen refusing a request by her prime minister under these circumstances."
The Commons leader denied suggestions that moving to suspend parliament had put the monarch, who by convention avoids any involvement in politics, in an awkward position.
More than 1.25 million people have now signed a petition urging Boris Johnson not to prorogue parliament.
The petition quickly reached 100,000 signatures following Wednesday's announcement, meaning it will be considered for debate by MPs.
The petition, which was created by Mark Johnston on parliament’s website, states: "Parliament must not be prorogued or dissolved unless and until the Article 50 period has been sufficiently extended or the UK's intention to withdraw from the EU has been cancelled."
Here's the full story on Jacob Rees-Moggdismissing anger over the suspension of parliament as "a candyfloss of outrage", by my colleague Lizzy Buchan:
Nearly half of the British public believe it is not acceptable for Boris Johnson to prorogue parliament, compared to 27% who say it is, according to a YouGov poll.
Only half of Leave voters surveyed believed it was the suspension was acceptable, with a quarter saying it was not.
Unsurprisingly, the vast majority of Remainers feel the move is unacceptable. Here's how those results break down:
Conservative backbencher Ken Clarke has accused Boris Johnson of behaving like a "petty dictator", saying the prime minister had caved in to the "the fanatic element of his followers".
The long-serving MP predicted Johnson's "absolutely outrageous" decision to suspend parliament would "bring together the slightly divided majority in the House of Commons" and could raise the likelihood of a soft Brexit or second referendum.
He said: "I hope it will bring together the sensible majority of parliament who will find some alternative.
"The key thing is to decide are we leaving in a sensible way that doesn't do damage to our economy, or are we actually going to have a referendum and decide whether to leave at all."
The coming weeks in Westminster promise to be chaotic, even compared to the tumultuous new normality of British politics since 2016. Ewan Somerville has taken a look at what happens next and the key dates to look out for between now and 31 October:
Chuka Ummuna has called on health secretary Matt Hancock to resign over the proroguing of parliament, something he said in June would undermine parliamentary democracy.
During the Conservative leadership election, Hancock said suspending parliament to force through Brexit would go against "everything that those men who waded onto those beaches fought and died for". He added: "I will not have it."
The health secretary also said suspending parliament "explicitly to pursue a course of action against its wishes is not a serious policy of a prime minister in the 21 century".
Ummuna, the Liberal Democrat foreign affairs spokesman, drew attention to that statement on Twitter this morning:
Matt Hancock is far from the only member of Boris Johnson's cabinet to have previously spoken out against proroguing parliament.
In a televised Tory leadership election debate in June, current chancellor Sajid Javid suggested it was the strategy of a "dictator", while his fellow contender Michael Gove said it would be "wrong for many reasons".
Amber Rudd, now work and pensions secretary, told Sky News the same month proroguing parliament was "the most extraordinary idea I've ever heard" and a "ridiculous suggestion".
Culture secretary Nicky Morgan told an audience on the BBC's Question Time suspending parliament was "clearly a mad suggestion", adding: "You cannot say you are going to take back control … and then go: ‘Oh, by the way, we are just going to shut parliament down for a couple of months, so we are just going to drift out on a no deal’".
Andrea Leadsom, now business secretary, told the BBC Radio 4's Today programme last month she would not support proroguing parliament and she did not "believe it would happen".
Transport minister George Freeman said just this month that proroguing parliament would be a "huge mistake". He added: "I don’t think it’s the prime minister’s instincts – he’s a parliamentarian, he’s a Churchillian, he is a real democrat, and I cannot for a moment think that’s what he’d want to do."
On Newsnight in June, trade secretary Liz Truss said suspending parliament was an "archaic manoeuvre" that Johnson had already ruled out.
Ruth Davidson, the leader of the Scottish Conservatives, has announced her resignation.
She posted a resignation letter to the party's Scottish chairman explaining her decision on Twitter a few moments ago.
Davidson expresses her wish to focus on her family, following the birth of her son Finn with partner Jen Wilson in October last year. She says the looming prospect of both Scottish and general elections and the requirement to spend hundreds of hours away from home "fills me with dread".
The Remain-supporting MSP makes no mention of Boris Johnson's decision to prorogue parliament, although she says she has "not hidden the conflict I have felt over Brexit".
The BBC's assistant political editor has got hold of Lord Young's resignation letter, in which the government's whip in the House of Lords accuses Boris Johnson of "undermining the fundamental role of parliament".
Writing to Baroness Evans, leader of the House, he said he had initially been "reassured by the prime minister's statement during the leadership election that he was not attracted to the idea of using prorogation to facilitate a no-deal Brexit."
But he adds: "I am very unhappy at the timing and length of the prorogation, and its motivation. While not agreeing with the hyperbole of some critics, I have been unpersuaded by the reasons given for that decision, which I believes risks undermining the fundamental role of parliament at a critical time in our history, and reinforces the view that the government may not have the confidence of the House for its Brexit policy".
Liberal Democrat leader Jo Swinson has responded to Ruth Davidson's resignation, suggesting the Scottish Tory leader's decision was not motivated by family commitments alone:
Ruth Davidson has torn into MPs who previously voted against Theresa May's Brexit deal, saying they had "three golden opportunities" to avert a no-deal.
Speaking to the media after announcing her resignation, the Scottish Tories leader urged MPs to support any Brexit deal brought back before the Commons by Boris Johnson.
She said: "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 jobshares as prime minister, the simplest way to avoid no deal is to vote for a deal.
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."
Despite speculation that Davidson's resignation has been triggered by Johnson proroguing parliament, she avoided criticising the PM, who she she said she believed was trying to avoid a no-deal.
But she did say she had a "public message" for Johnson. "It’s the same message I conveyed to him yesterday when we had a conversation last night: ‘Prime minister, get us a deal in the European Union'."
The UK's political turmoil has made headlines around the world, with international headlines generally critical of Boris Johnson.
Germany’s public broadcaster Deutsche Welle branded him a "dictator", while Belgium's La Libe and De Morgen both described his suspension of parliament as a "coup".
Here's Jon Stone's round-up of how European newspapers have reported on the news:
Boris Johnson has not escaped criticism from the media even in more repressive states.
Iranian weekly Javan declared on the front page of today's issue: "British democracy suspended for Brexit."
Meanwhile, in Russia, the business daily Vedomosti said the UK's exit from Europe "seems more and more that it will end up in tragedy".
Work and pensions secretary Amber Rudd has declined to answer questions about the decision to prorogue parliament during a visit to Belfast.
In June she described the idea of suspending Commons to push through a no-deal Brexit as "absolutely outrageous", "extraordinary" and "ridiculous".
She remained tight-lipped on the matter when asked about it by the PA news agency on Thursday following a visit to a job centre in east Belfast.
"I'm going to continue to do my job as Secretary of State for Work and Pensions," she said in response to one of a number of questions about prorogation.
Here's a video of the exchange:
