Documents that appear to show that Boris Johnson was plotting to prorogue Parliament two weeks before making it public were released yesterday.
Earlier this week, during a failed legal challenge to the Prime Minister’s plan, Judge Lord Doherty was told by Aidan O’Neill QC that Johnson and his advisers were planning to suspend Parliament on August 14.
The memos were released to the public yesterday by Lord Carloway, Lord Brodie and Lord Drummond Young, after a legal challenge at the Court of Session in Edinburgh.
The documents include a note sent to Johnson on August 15 asking if he wished to prorogue Parliament from mid-September.
The word “yes” and a tick can be seen on the document.
Another document includes a note the next day, which appears to be written by the PM, in which he brands the September session of Parliament as a “rigmarole introduced to show the public that MPs were earning their crust”.
He goes on to say he did not see “anything especially shocking about this proposition” of proroguing Parliament.
A final document contains notes of a call between Johnson and his Cabinet on August 28 – the day he announced plans to shut Parliament for five weeks, beginning next week, until a Queen’s Speech on October 14.
Some sections were blanked out, despite a request that they be published in full.
The group of politicians led by SNP MP Joanna Cherry argued that Johnson is exceeding his powers and attempting to undermine democracy by avoiding parliamentary scrutiny.
