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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
Politics
Matthew Weaver

Boris Johnson claims: 'We have a way to get Brexit done' – as it happened

We’re wrapping up this live blog for today. Here are the key takeaways from Friday’s politics:

Swinson joins Miller, Major and Watson in legal challenge

The Liberal Democrat leader, Jo Swinson, is joining the High Court action by Gina Miller, together with John Major and Tom Watson. She said:

“The attempt to shut down Parliament is an anti-democratic, authoritarian power grab by Boris Johnson, who wants to silence the people and their representatives.

“The Liberal Democrats are doing all we can, both in the courts and in Parliament, to prevent both the shutdown of our democracy and a no-deal Brexit.

“That’s why I’ll be joining the High Court judicial review launched by Gina Miller.”

Updated

Boris Johnson’s decision to prorogue Parliament hasn’t harmed his election chances a YouGov poll suggests.

The poll conducted on Wednesday (the day he announced the move) and Thursday puts the Tories on 33%, 11% above Labour. And the poll puts the LibDems on 21% only 1% behind Labour.

But Prof John Curtice, the respected polling expert at Strathclyde University, says calling a general election before Brexit would be risky for Johnson.

Speaking to BBC News he said: “The Conservatives probably need an eight point lead over Labour to have 50% chance of getting an overall majority. And that’s the point that we are at [in the average of polls]. So I think at the moment an early general election looks like a relatively risky prospect rather than a certainty.”

He added: “He might want to hold an election after he’s delivered Brexit. There is some polling evidence to suggest it is not an unreasonable calculation that at that point more of the Brexit party voters would switch to the Conservative Party, and that would open up the kind of lead that might give the Conservatives a secure position inside the House of Commons.”

“But that might mean that Boris Johnson still has to solve that riddle of how to get Brexit through the current House of Commons rather than using a general election to make the task rather easier.”

Interviewed before the latest poll was released, Prof Curtice added:

“It is certainly true that across all of the polls, that the leave vote, is gradually proving to be more concentrated than that of the remain vote.

“YouGov in particular tend to have the Liberal Democrats relatively higher than most other polls and Labour rather lower, because they are suggesting that if anything, maybe the Liberal Democrats, have slightly more remain voters than Labour.

“But across the piece it looks as though, if you take the average of the polls, that something like 50% or just short or those who voted leave in 2016 currently say they would vote for the Conservatives. Whereas only a quarter of them say they’d vote for the Brexit party.

“The question is whether the squeeze on the Brexit party vote is going to any further.”

A hearing at the High Court in London relating to a bid to challenge the suspension of Parliament will take place on Thursday 5 September, a spokesman for the judiciary has confirmed.

The spokesman told PA:

“A hearing into an application for judicial review received from Gina Miller with the Prime Minister as defendant has been fixed for Thursday 5 September 5 2019 at the Divisional Court in Court 4 at the Royal Courts of Justice, with the Lord Chief Justice Lord Burnett presiding.

“The court will first consider the request for the case to be heard and, if it agrees, a full hearing will follow the same day. Further information will be given early next week.”

Summary

Here’s a summary of what’s happened so far today:

Gordon Brown
Gordon Brown Photograph: Jane Barlow/PA

Severin Carrell has more on Gordon Brown’s claim that the European Union will offer to withdraw 31 October for leaving the bloc, to “pull the rug” from under hardline Brexiteers.

Speaking in Edinburgh on Friday morning, Brown said he had been speaking to EU leaders and understood that President Emmanuel Macron of France no longer insisted the UK should be held to that date. Brown claimed Macron had originally insisted on it chiefly to “sound tough” during the European election campaign.

Speaking at the launch of a new think tank Our Scottish Future, Brown said he accepted EU leaders could not unilaterally withdraw the deadline but were poised to say they would extend it if asked, adding to pressure on Boris Johnson to avoid a no-deal Brexit.

“I have actually been talking to some European leaders this week. I believe that next week the European Union will withdraw the October 31st deadline and remove the excuse that Boris Johnson has, and the claim that he’s making, that it’s the European Union being inflexible in their timing, and make it possible for MPs to vote [against] no-deal Brexit.”

His remarks were met with incredulity in Brussels, since there has been no discussion of that strategy at all; it was not on the radar. One official there described them as “bizarre”. The EU requires unanimity of all 27 member states on such a change – a process which involves heads of government involvement, and the UK’s agreement to it.

During a question and answer session, Brown went further: “My information is that Macron no longer holds to that deadline. It was really introduced for his campaign in the European elections to make him sound tough.

“And none of the other European commissioners, including the new president of the European Commission [Ursula von der Leyen], I believe will hold to that October 31st deadline.

“So really the government has two arguments that they want to get across - that it’s a sovereign people against a non-sovereign parliament, and it’s Britain against Europe. Pull the rug from under that argument by saying it’s not Europe that’s being inflexible, it’s up to Britain now, the October 31st deadline can be removed.”

The writer and leftwing campaigner, Paul Mason, has thanked Boris Johnson and Dominic Cummings for galvanising opponents of a no-deal Brexit.

In his latest video message he calls for street demonstrations on Saturday against the suspension of Parliament.

The chancellor, Sajid Javid, was not informed in advance about the sacking of one of his senior advisers by Boris Johnson’s strategist Dominic Cummings, it has emerged.

Sonia Khan, Javid’s media adviser, was escorted from No 10 by a police officer after being accused of misleading Cummings over her contact with individuals close to the former chancellor Philip Hammond, who has been trying to block a no-deal Brexit.

Downing Street rebuffed speculation that she had leaked the government’s no-deal planning report, Operation Yellowhammer, to the press.

Khan was the second adviser working for Javid to be sacked by No 10, leading to suggestions that Javid is becoming increasingly isolated from the core of the Johnson regime.

A suggestion by Gordon Brown that the EU is prepared to withdraw the current 31 October deadline, is being greeted with scepticism in Brussels.

Speaking at a seminar in Edinburgh Brown said: “I have actually been talking to some European leaders this week.

“I believe that next week the European Union will withdraw the October 31st deadline and remove the excuse that Boris Johnson has and the claim that he’s making that it’s the European Union being inflexible in their timing, and make it possible for MPs to vote [against] no-deal Brexit.”

But after putting the idea to EU officials, Mutjaba Rahman, managing director for Europe at Eurasia Group, says its nonsense.

Updated

Tom Watson to join the Miller/Major legal challenge

Tom Watson
Tom Watson Photograph: Luke Dray/Getty Images

Labour deputy leader Tom Watson says he will also be joining Gina Miller’s legal action against the suspension of Parliament.

In a statement he said: “Proroguing Parliament is an unprecedented affront to democracy. The rights and freedoms of our citizens have been vandalised. This is an abuse of power that can and should be stopped.”

He added: “I have taken advice on legislative solutions to challenge the prime minister’s action to stop us crashing out of the EU without a deal. I am in discussions with colleagues in other parties and a Bill to achieve this outcome has been drafted.

“I will be joining the judicial review launched in the High Court by Gina Miller and supported by John Major as a claimant.

“I will be represented by Mishcon de Reya, Tom Hickman and David Pannick QC.

“I intend to assist the court from the perspective of an active legislator to ensure that there is sufficient time for members of all parties to consider and vote on the Bill.”

Updated

Interesting thread from the BBC’s Europe editor, Katya Adler, on how Johnson’s tactics are going down in Brussels and Berlin.

Johnson: MPs trying to block no deal make it more likely

In a separate interview with the BBC, Johnson has warned MPs that trying to block no-deal makes that outcome more likely.

He said: “As long as they think in the EU that parliament might try to block Brexit, the less likely they are to give us the deal we want. So the weird thing is, that the more the parliamentarians try to block the no-deal Brexit, the more likely it is that we’ll end up in that situation.”

He added: “So the best thing now is for use get on and make our points to our European friends with clarity and vigour and that’s what we are doing.”

Johnson: 'We have a way to get Brexit done'

Boris Johnson has defended his decision to prorogue parliament suggesting it has helped the UK negotiating stance with the EU.

Asked by Sky News how the decision squared with the promise of leave campaigners to allow Parliament to take back control, he said: “Parliament voted to allow the people to have say. Parliamentarians said to the people ‘we will respect the result’. And then they triggered article 50 and time and time again they promised that they would deliver on the mandate of the people and they would get Brexit done. And I hope that they will.”

Johnson again insisted that Parliament would have time to debate Brexit: “We are coming up to the last period before we leave on 31 October and in that period, Parliament is going to have a lot to time - they’ve spent three years debating Brexit by the way without actually getting it over the line. They are going to have a lot of time for further consideration.”

He suggested the move to prorogue parliament was part of the government’s attempts to show the EU that was serious about leaving with or without a deal on 31 October.

He said: “What I want to do now, which is I think what most people in the country want the government to do, is get on and try and get an agreement, but if we can’t get an agreement, get ready to come out anyway.

“And it is by getting ready to come out anyway that we have greatly strengthened our position with our friends and partners in the EU, because they see that we are serious.

“I’m afraid that the more our friends and partners think that Brexit could be stopped, that the UK could be kept in by Parliament, the less likely they are to give us the deal that we need. That’s why I really hope that MPs will allow the UK to do a deal and get ready for a no deal Brexit. That’s the best way forward for our country.”

Asked what he would tell people who have been protesting against the suspension of Parliament, Johnson said:

My message to them is that the worst thing for democracy now would be to cancel the referendum, which is what some people are now suggesting, to annul that result, to tell the people that they are going to be ignored, after all the promises that have been made. Because everybody can see what the risk is now.

“If we frustrate that mandate, if we stop the UK from leaving on October 31st, if that’s what parliamentarians end up doing, it will do lasting damage to people’s trust in politics. It will do catastrophic damage to the major parties in this country. This political generation won’t be forgiven for failing to honour that promise.

“We told the people we would get it done. We have a way to get it done, we are in the last stages now of negotiating with our friends about a way to get it done. If we can’t succeed in that negotiation we must come out anyway. But the best way to succeed in that negotiation is for everybody to be united in the objective and for the UK negotiations to have the strongest possible hand, and that’s what we’ll do over the next few weeks.

Updated

Boris Johnson has given a defiant sounding interview with Sky News.

We’ll have more details after it is broadcast.

European Commission spokeswoman Mina Andreeva rhas epeated Brussels’ request for Boris Johnson to produce “concrete proposals” following his call to increase the tempo of talks.

She said: “Indeed (the PM’s Europe adviser) David Frost has asked to meet the Commission twice a week to discuss the UK’s withdrawal.

“We have always said from our side that our doors remain open and we have demonstrated, in fact, our willingness to work 24/7 throughout this long process.”

She added: “Our position remains that we will need to first see proposals, concrete proposals, from the UK government that are compatible with the withdrawal agreement before we can take these discussions further.

“We have also communicated yesterday that our teams will indeed resume discussions next week.”

Gina Miller sets out her objections to the suspension of Parliament here:

Summary

Here’s a summary of another eventful morning on the Brexit front:

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

The second legal attempt to injunct the prorogation of parliament appears to be going the same way as the first. PA reports:

An application in Belfast High Court for an injunction against the Prime Minister’s decision to suspend Parliament will not be heard on Friday.

Northern Ireland’s Lord Chief Justice Sir Declan Morgan told victims campaigner Raymond McCord, who made the legal bid, that if he wanted to pursue the matter a judge would decide on 3 September if the case should be heard later that week.

McCord is already taking judicial review proceedings to prevent a no-deal Brexit.
The hearing on that wider issue is still listed to take place on 16 September.

Sir Declan questioned the merits of hearing the case to injunct proroguing until it became clear what Parliament’s response to Boris Johnson’s move might be.

“Every morning you wake up and there’s something new that has occurred here,” he said during Friday’s short hearing in Belfast High Court.

A Scottish government said it has noted the court’s decision.

He said: “We will continue to monitor this case, and to press for Scotland and the UK to remain in the European Union.

“The Scottish Government will be bringing a debate to the Scottish Parliament next week calling for a no deal Brexit to be ruled out under all circumstances.”

The cabinet secretary for constitutional relations, Michael Russell, said:

“I pay tribute to the MPs and Peers, led by parliamentarians from Scotland, who brought this action to assert their right to hold the UK Government to account.

“The impact of leaving the EU, and particularly leaving without a deal, will be grave, profound and damaging.

“Attempting to deprive the Westminster Parliament of the opportunity to scrutinise the UK government’s plans, and preventing it from being able to legislate in respect of the UK government’s plans, is undemocratic and unconstitutional.

“All MPs and all citizens, regardless of their position on leaving the EU, should be alarmed by the prime minister’s plan to avoid debate and prevent the legislative action necessary to avert a catastrophic no deal exit.”

Litigation partner at Pinsent Masons, Jim Cormack QC, said the Court of Session’s decision to refuse an interim interdict on the basis that a full hearing can be brought forward is quite common.

He added:

“Given the nature and potential effects of the orders the court is being asked to grant, it is understandable why the court prefers to bring forward a full hearing in this case.

“The petitioners may take some comfort from the fact that in refusing interim orders, the judge has focused on the practicalities rather than delving too far at this stage into the substantive strengths and weaknesses of the arguments. That is now a matter which will come before the court on Tuesday.”

The government has welcomed the Court of Session’s decision to refuse an emergency order to block prorogation.

A government spokeswoman said:

“As we have set out, the government needs to bring forward a strong domestic legislative agenda, and MPs are not prevented from scrutinising our withdrawal from the EU.

“We are glad the court found against the interdict - there was no good reason to seek one, given the full hearing is due to take place next week, and the process of bringing the session to an end will not start until the week commencing 9 September.”

The Labour MP, Ian Murray, who is also backing the legal action in Scotland, said:

“This verdict means a full hearing has been fast-tracked to next week, which is now the most important week in modern British history.

“It is disappointing that we have to go to the courts to protect British democracy, but Boris Johnson’s attempt to silence the people’s representatives cannot go unchallenged.

“As well as this legal battle in the Court of Session, the campaign against a no-deal Brexit will also take place in the House of Commons.

“We must work tirelessly, across all parties and none, to fight against the devastation of a no-deal Brexit, fight for our democracy, and fight for the people to have a final say on Brexit.”

Updated

Joanna Cherry
Joanna Cherry Photograph: Jane Barlow/PA

Joanna Cherry, the SNP’s justice and home affairs spokeswoman and one of those who brought the case against prorogation, said the decision to bring forward the full hearing to next Tuesday was a vindication of the action.

Speaking outside Edinburgh’s Court of Session, she confirmed the judge had refused to grant an emergency order against prorogation. She said:

“But he hasn’t made any ruling on the merits of our arguments that prorogation should be stopped. He wants to hear further and full argument on Tuesday morning hear the Court of Session before making a decision. I see that as a victory for us.

“Aidan O’Neill, QC, who is instructed by myself and my fellow petitioners, pointed out to the court that the court ordered that affidavits should be lodged at an earlier stage.

“The prime minster should lodge a sworn affidavit setting out his reasons for the prorogation and make himself available for cross examination before the court if necessary.

“This is an interesting suggestion, particularly in the light of the comments that were caught off camera from the defence minister [Ben Wallace] indicating that the reason for the prorogation was, as I and others have always argued to frustrate the democratic ability of parliament to stop a no-deal where we all know there is a majority against no deal.

“So I see this as a vindication of our decision to take this action.”

You can read Wallace’s comments here.

Updated

More on the Scottish challenge:

Aiden O’Neill QC, representing those for the action, argued for the substantive hearing to be moved forward.

He said: “There is an urgency to this - any delay is prejudicial - not just to the prejudice of the petitioners, but to the country as a whole.”

The hearing was then changed from Friday September 6 to Tuesday in the “interest of justice”.

Lord Doherty said: “I’m going to move the substantive hearing forward to Tuesday.
“Weighing consideration in the balance, it’s in the interest of justice that it proceeds sooner rather than later.”

Miller/Major challenge to be heard on 5 September

It’s going to be busy week in the courts.

A separate challenge to the suspension of Parliament by Gina Miller and John Major’s will be heard next Thursday, Miller says.

Updated

Full hearing on prorogation brought forward

Lord Doherty has brought forward the full hearing on the legality of prorogation from Friday next week to Tuesday. It will held at the Court of Session in Edinburgh.

Judge Lord Doherty said:

“I’m not satisfied that it has been demonstrated that there’s a need for an interim suspension or an interim interdict to be granted at this stage.

“A substantive hearing is set to place for Friday September 6, before the first possible date parliament could be prorogued.”

Judge Lord Doherty dismissed the action ahead of a full hearing originally set for 6 September.

Aidan O’Neill the barrister for those making the challenge demanded Johnson explained on oath why he needed to prorogue parliament.

Judge rejects application for interim suspension of prorogation

Opponents of Boris Johnson’s bid to suspend parliament have been denied an interim interdict at the court of session in Edinburgh.

Updated

Some initial reaction to John Major’s legal intervention:

On Wednesday Major warned that said he was seeking legal advice on whether he can challenge Johnson’s decision to prorogue parliament.

In a statement read out on BBC News, Major said: “I have no doubt that the prime minister’s motive in seeking prorogation is to bypass a sovereign parliament that opposes his policy. As events unfold I will continue to seek advice on the legality of this and other matters, but will be making no further comment.”

Last month Major said he would be willing to go to court to seek a judicial review to stop Johnson proroguing parliament.

In June he said this:

In his statement Major said:

I promised that, if the prime minister prorogued Parliament in order to prevent members from opposing Brexit plans, I would seek judicial review of his action.

In view of the imminence of the prorogation – and to avoid duplication of effort, and taking up the Court’s time through repetition – I intend to seek the court’s permission to intervene in the claim already initiated by Gina Miller, rather then to commence separate proceedings.

If granted permission to intervene, I intend to seek to assist the Court from the perspective of having served in government as a minister and prime minister.

John Major joins legal attempt to block suspension of parliament

John Major says he will seek to join Gina Miller in her court bid to block the suspension of parliament. In a statement to lobby journalists he said he will be represented in court by Edward Garnier, a former minister and barrister.

Shami Chakrabarti
Shami Chakrabarti Photograph: Sarah Lee/The Guardian

Shadow attorney general Baroness Chakrabarti said she believed opponents of Boris Johnson had the numbers in Parliament to force through a change in the law to block a no-deal Brexit, PA reports.

She suggested people should “take to the streets” if the government continues its approach.

“My own soundings and those of colleagues in discussions over the last couple of days, in particular since the constitutional outrage, give me greater comfort that minds are now focused, especially on the Conservative side,” she told BBC Radio 4’s Today.

She said she believed the measure could also get through the Lords: “I know that all sorts of high jinks have been discussed, filibusters and so on, but I believe that there are means of preventing any sort of public school dirty tricks working, even in the House of Lords.”

In response to suggestions the government could seek to delay royal assent to any legislation to block no-deal, Chakrabarti said: “We do know that we are dealing with a bunch of people who have no respect for our precious constitution.

“If they try any more of this stuff we will use any means necessary to prevent this undemocratic behaviour - that includes people taking to the streets, that includes people taking to the airwaves, that includes people going to court.

“Because they are behaving in a way that is unworthy of a UK government.”

Update on the three legal challenges:

  • A decision is expected some time after 10am by a judge hearing the case at the Court of Session in Edinburgh brought by a cross-party group of 70 MPs and peers seeking to stop the Prime Minister from suspending Parliament.
  • From 10.30am at the High Court in Belfast, victims campaigner Raymond McCord, will try to secure an injunction preventing prorogation.
  • A third legal challenge brought by campaigner Gina Miller at the High Court in London “is being considered”, according to a judiciary spokeswoman.

Ken Clarke has said he “probably would” back Jeremy Corbyn to be caretaker prime minister in order to block a no-deal Brexit.

Speaking to Sky News, the former chancellor and father of the House, said: “So long as it were absolutely certain we could keep Jeremy under control and he wouldn’t have the slightest chance of implementing any bits of his Labour manifesto, I hate to tell you but I probably would.”

But he added: “I don’t think it’s going to happen, because I must be one of a tiny number of Tories prepared to contemplate that.”

Updated

Lord Lisvane, the former clerk of the Commons
Lord Lisvane, the former clerk of the Commons Photograph: Atlantic Productions/PA

Lord Lisvane, the former clerk of the House of Commons, has joined those criticising the prorogation of Parliament and defended John Bercow’s outspoken attack against the move.

He told Today: “I think if you prevent Parliament from taking a decision or expressing a view because you think it won’t be to your taste, that’s a pretty profound subversion of the relationship between government and Parliament.”

“I think it would be bad for the government’s reputation in the long term as well as the short term. I think there’s an element of fair play involved. If for some people, that doesn’t matter, then I think the effects will be far reaching.”

After Bercow described the move as a “constitutional outrage”, the leader of the Commons, Jacob Rees-Mogg, said such remarks were unconstitutional.

Lisvane said Rees-Mogg was “wrong”. He said: “The house’s presiding officer is also the representative of its interests. And if he sees those interests being damaged or threatened, I think it’s reasonable for him to say something about it. And there are examples over history of that taking place.”

Asked if the House of Lords could block attempts in the Commons to stop a no-deal Brexit, Lisvane said: “I think the Lords would be very cautious about seeking to kill a bill which would actually been passed by the elected house.”

And he expressed alarm about a report by Buzzfeed that the government was considering advising the Queen not to give royal assent to any legislation passed by Parliament delaying Brexit.

He said: “I would hope we get nowhere near that. I think that would be very, very difficult set of circumstances. I think her ministers will be incredibly ill advised to take a step of that sort.”

Letwin confirms talks with Bercow

Oliver Letwin, a leading Tory opponent of a no-deal Brexit, has confirmed he been in talks with the speaker, John Bercow on the parliamentary procedures for stopping UK leaving the UK without a deal.

He denied that he “cooking up a deal with the speaker”. But asked about a report in the Telegraph he had talked to Bercow while the speaker was on holiday in Turkey, Letwin said: “It is perfectly true that for many months I’ve been talking both to the clarks and the speaker and that’s the appropriate thing to do if they want to establish what the procedures are, and we’ll go on doing that.

Letwin also insisted there was an opportunity next week in Parliament to stop a no-deal Brexit. Speaking to Radio 4’s Today programme he said:

“I’m concerned about how we can ensure that Britain doesn’t make a sudden, disorderly, undemocratic, no-deal exit on 31 October. I believe that there probably is time. Whether we can get the required majorities in the House of Commons is altogether another matter.

“I know there are a number of my colleagues who feel that a disorderly, no-deal exit is a very bad idea and they have in the past been willing to support efforts to prevent that happening.

“I hope that Parliament will take a series of actions that by the end of the week mean that Boris Johnson knows that as prime minister that if doesn’t get a deal he is going to have seek an extension.”

He said he disagreed with former cabinet minister David Lidington, who suggested on Thursday that the time for Parliament to act was after the October EU summit.

Letwin said: “I hope that we can take action this coming week so that if the prime minister hasn’t got a deal in place then he needs to seek an extension.”

Updated

Ireland’s deputy premier Simon Coveney insisted that any Brexit deal with the UK must be based on the withdrawal agreement negotiated by Theresa May. He said:

“We want to get a deal that manages a sensible Brexit, that moves us into a transition period that gives us time and space to work out a future relationship.

“But that deal has to be based on the Withdrawal Agreement and it has to be consistent with that, and if the UK wants to remove an element of the Withdrawal Agreement they have to acknowledge that that causes problems and they have to propose alternatives that can solve those problems, certainly in the case of the backstop.”

“We have always said if there are alternatives to the backstop that do the same job, then let’s hear them, and if we can work out a deal on that basis so be it.

“But what we will not do in Ireland - and I believe there is strong solidarity across the EU on this - we will not allow a really important element of the Withdrawal Agreement to be removed - i.e. the backstop, which solves a difficult problem, albeit on a temporary basis - and for that to be replaced with something that doesn’t stand up to scrutiny and is simply a promise that we’ll do our best to solve the problem, but not explain how.

“That is not an approach that either Ireland or the EU will support.”

On Boris Johnson’s suggestion of negotiations for two days a week, Coveney said: “I’m sure if he wanted five days of negotiations a week, the EU would be OK with that.

“Michel Barnier is there as the chief negotiator for that purpose, he has a team that’s ready to go.

“We all want to get a deal.”

He added: “I don’t think there’s any problem from a European Union perspective in terms of making time available for negotiations.”

“We all want to try to resolve these issues, we want to find a way of getting a deal that the UK are happy with and that the EU is happy with and can accept too. There is no country that wants a deal more than Ireland.”

Updated

The transport secretary, Grant Shapps, has been sent out to the broadcast media to defend the suspension of parliament.

He repeated the government’s claim that there is nothing unusual or improper in what the government is doing.

Speaking to Sky News: “To allow four days in October so that the Queen can come and open Parliament again is perfectly normal, constitutional and is the right thing to do.”

He also claimed there was “nothing new” to discuss on Brexit.

He said: “This idea that Parliament won’t get the chance to debate Brexit again is completely untrue. And it not like this hasn’t been discussed. In fact there is nothing new to discuss on the Brexit front until we get to that October European summit.”

He added: “We must leave in order to ensure that people have faith in democracy”.

Earlier speaking to BBC Breakfast he said: “The next big thing to happen will be around the next European summit and that’s not until the middle of October anyway and that is the time at which there may be something new to discuss.”

Shapps also announced £30m for minor ports to help them prepare for a no-deal Brexit.

The foreign secretary, Dominic Raab attends the Informal Meeting of EU foreign ministers in Helsinki
The foreign secretary, Dominic Raab attends the Informal Meeting of EU foreign ministers in Helsinki Photograph: Markku Ulander/REX/Shutterstock

Dominic Raab, the only contender in the Tory leadership race to back proroguing parliament in the campaign, has dismissed the furore over move as “nonsense”.

The foreign secretary insisted only around four days of Commons sitting time would be lost by suspending parliament for up to five weeks before a Queen’s speech on 14 October – a calculation based on MPs leaving Westminster for the party conferences.

He told reporters at a meeting of EU foreign ministers in Helsinki:

“The idea this is some kind of constitutional outrage is nonsense. It’s actually lawful, it’s perfectly proper, there is precedent for it and actually, fundamentally, for the people watching this, they want to see that we are leaving the EU but also talking about all the other things they expect us to be addressing.”

Updated

Welcome to a Friday edition of Politics Live.

Boris Johnson says he was wants to step up the tempo of talks on a Brexit deal as a judge prepares to rule on a legal challenge aimed at stopping him suspending parliament.

Downing Street said the UK’s team of Brexit negotiators will sit down with their EU counterparts twice a week during September “with the possibility of additional technical meetings, to discuss a way forward on securing a new deal”.

It is being seen as an attempt to calm the concerns of rebel Tory MPs opposed to a no-deal Brexit, some of whom are threatening to join opposition efforts to tie the PM’s hands by legislating against the UK leaving the EU with an agreement.

Meanwhile, a judge in Scotland will rule on Friday on a legal bid to block Johnson’s move to prorogue parliament for over a month during the Brexit countdown.

A court in Northern Ireland will also hear from lawyers representing anti-no-deal campaigners challenging the move and attempt to do the same at the high court in London is also under way.

Judge Lord Doherty heard arguments from a lawyer for the campaigners and a legal representative for the UK government at a hearing at the court of session in Edinburgh on Thursday and he is due at the same court on Friday morning to make a decision on the case.

Northern Ireland’s Lord Chief Justice Sir Declan Morgan, who sat for the short hearing at Belfast high court on Thursday, will hold a substantive hearing on Friday morning.

A third legal challenge brought by campaigner Gina Miller at the high court in London “is being considered”, according to a judiciary spokeswoman.

Updated

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“That's what's likely to happen when you wear dresses like that.”
Bored Panda
Bored Panda
The Yard Waste Secret: How Your Neighbors are Giving Away Free Garden Gold
If you’ve ever walked past neatly bagged piles of leaves or branches sitting at the curb, you’ve probably seen something most people ignore… but gardeners quietly get excited about. What looks like trash is actually one of the most underrated resources in your neighorhood, and it’s often completely free. From…
Frugal Gardening
Frugal Gardening
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