Lawmakers yesterday were to return to the British Parliament following a momentous British Supreme Court ruling that British Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s decision to suspend parliament was unlawful.
The judgement has dented Johnson’s authority, prompting calls for his resignation and casting further doubt on his promise to pull Britain out of the EU on Oct. 31 — “come what may.”
The Conservative leader was due to arrive back from New York City in the early hours, heading straight into a political maelstrom triggered by Tuesday’s damning court ruling that his decision to suspend parliament for five weeks was unlawful.
British House of Commons Speaker John Bercow immediately announced that lawmakers would reconvene at 11:30am yesterday, while the upper House of Lords said that it would return later the same day.
Bercow said there would be no Prime Minister’s Questions — a weekly session held on Wednesdays — but there would be “full scope for urgent questions, for ministerial statements and for applications for emergency debates.”
The ruling throws Johnson’s Brexit plans into disarray — coming after a series of defeats in parliament that have curbed his plans for Brexit even if there is no divorce deal with Brussels.
Johnson told British media that he “strongly disagreed” with the decision, but said he would respect it.
Johnson is likely to renew his call for an early election to end the stand-off with parliament, having said in New York on Tuesday that it was “the obvious thing to do.”
Despite the series of hammer blows in the House of Commons and the courts, and losing his parliamentary majority, Johnson is still riding high in the polls and is eager for an election to try and win enough seats to allow him to carry out his plans to leave the EU.
However, Johnson requires the consent of opposition parties to hold a snap election and they are so far reluctant, preferring to use their working majority to keep a tight leash on Johnson as the Brexit deadline looms.
Labour has said that it would agree to a vote once a no-deal Brexit has been ruled out, with a spokesman at its party conference on Tuesday saying that it would be taking “action tomorrow” regarding an election.
The 11 Supreme Court judges on Tuesday ruled that the parliamentary suspension, which came into effect this month, was “void and of no effect,” because the prorogation was unlawful.
British Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbyn has led calls for Johnson to step down.
Johnson on Tuesday said he hoped to amend the deal struck between the EU and former British prime minister Theresa May.
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