UK govt to ask Queen to suspend Parliament

International Desk: The Queen will be asked by the government to suspend Parliament just days after MPs return to work in September - and only a few weeks before the Brexit deadline.

Experts say it will make way for Boris Johnson's new administration to hold a Queen's Speech - laying out the government's plans - on 14 October.

But it means MPs are unlikely to have time to pass any laws that could stop the prime minister taking the UK out of the EU without a deal on 31 October.

Tory backbencher and Remain campaigner Dominic Grieve called it "an outrageous act", and warned it could lead to a vote of no confidence in Mr Johnson, adding: "This government will come down."

But a No 10 source defended the move, saying: "It's time a new government and new PM set out a plan for the country after we leave the EU."

The idea of shutting down Parliament - known as prorogation - has caused controversy, with critics saying it would stop MPs being able to play their democratic part in the Brexit process.

A number of high profile figures, including former Prime Minister John Major, have threatened to go to the courts to stop it, and a legal challenge led by the SNP's justice spokeswoman Joanna Cherry is already working its way through the Scottish courts.
Laura Kuenssberg said only a small number of government ministers knew about the plan in advance and it would inevitably cause a huge row.

She said the government would argue it was "a bog standard Queen's Speech process", despite all of the surrounding noise.

Mr Johnson says he wants to leave the EU on 31 October with a deal, but it is "do or die" and he is willing to leave without one rather than miss the deadline.

That position has prompted a number of opposition MPs to come together to try to block a possible no deal, and on Tuesday they announced that they intended to use parliamentary process to do so.

 

risingbd/Aug 28, 2019/Mukul