Johnson moves to suspend Parliament ahead of Brexit

LONDON (AP):

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson manoeuvred Wednesday to give his political opponents even less time to block a no-deal Brexit before the October 31 withdrawal deadline, winning Queen Elizabeth II’s approval to suspend Parliament. His critics were outraged.

Though Johnson previously had refused to rule out such a move, the timing of the decision took lawmakers – many of whom are on vacation – by surprise.

Lawmakers reacted with fury, including John Bercow, speaker of the lower House of Commons, who was not told in advance of Johnson’s plan.

“Shutting down Parliament would be an offence against the democratic process and the rights of parliamentarians as the people’s elected representatives,” Bercow said. “Surely, at this early stage in his premiership, the prime ­minister should be seeking to establish rather than undermine his democratic credentials and, indeed, his commitment to parliamentary democracy.”

The main opposition Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn wrote to the queen to protest “in the strongest possible terms on behalf of my party, and I believe all the other opposition parties are going to join in with this”.

But the monarch declined to get involved, in keeping with her steadfast refusal to interfere in politics. As head of state, she is politically neutral and acts on the advice of her government in political matters.

The House of Commons will convene from September 3-10 and then was scheduled to go on a break until October 9 – though lawmakers had suggested they might cancel that break and stay in session because of the national crisis. But Johnson said he has decided to ask the queen to give her speech that outlines the ­government’s legislative agenda on October 14.

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Since Parliament is normally suspended before her speech, the decision means opposition lawmakers would be unlikely to have enough time to pass laws ­blocking the United Kingdom’s (UK) withdrawal from the European Union (EU) without a negotiated deal on October 31.

The pound plunged on the news, down to $1.2196 from almost $1.2300 the previous day.

The EU is adamant that it will not renegotiate the agreement struck with former Prime Minister Theresa May on the terms of Britain’s departure and the framework of future relations. Without such a deal, Britain faces a chaotic Brexit that economists warn would disrupt trade by imposing tariffs and customs checks between Britain and the bloc, send the value of the pound plummeting, and plunge the UK into recession.