Boris Johnson has asked the Queen to suspend parliament with weeks to go before the Brexit deadline.
The Prime Minister today asked the Queen to prorogue parliament around the 11 September - just days after MPs return from their summer recess.
They will not return until 14 October, leaving very little time for remainer MPs to pass laws that could block Mr Johnson from taking the UK out of the EU without a deal on 31 October.
This plan has been met with widespread outrage, with Deputy Labour leader Tom Watson tweeting: "This action is an utterly scandalous affront to our democracy. We cannot let this happen."
Scotland's First Minister Nicola Sturgeon also tweeted: "It seems that Boris
Johnson may actually be about to shut down Parliament to force through a no deal Brexit.
"Unless MPs come together to stop him next week, today will go down in history as a dark one indeed for UK democracy."
Could the Queen have refused to suspend parliament?
While technically the Queen could have refused Boris Johnson's request to suspend parliament, it was always very unlikely that she would say no.
Proroguing parliament will mean ending the current parliamentary session, which has been going since 2017.
The new parliament session will be started with the Queen's Speech on 14 October, which will lay out the government's plans for the future.
