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As Boris Johnson aims to ‘suspend’ Parliament, lets assess the Twitter damage of this ‘very British coup’

On 28 August, the Prime Minister (PM) of the UK Boris Johnson dropped a bombshell. As reported by the BBC, Johnson has asked the Queen to suspend Parliament “just days” after MPs return to work from the summer recess. The plan comes only several weeks before the Brexit deadline of 31 October. But this prorogation of Parliament means MPs are unlikely to have time to stop a no-deal Brexit.

In a letter, the PM told MPs of his intentions:

Johnson did however confirm a “very exciting agenda” to be outlined in a Queen’s Speech which will take place after the suspension on 14 October. The PM is keen not to wait until after Brexit to bring about plans to “take this country forward”. Seems legit right!?

Former Tory Business Secretary now backbencher Dominic Grieve called Johnson’s plan “an outrageous act”. Grieve also believes the PM’s actions will lead to a vote of no confidence in Johnson, saying “This Government will come down”.

But that’s “completely untrue”

Contrary to widespread speculation, the PM said it is “completely untrue” to suggest the suspension of Parliament is linked to forcing through no-deal. But in completely unrelated news, Left Foot Forward published an article named “Is Boris Johnson a “known liar”? Here’s six times he’s known to have lied” on 27 August. Like I said, completely unrelated to Johnson’s rebuttal for his motivations for the prorogation.

But politicians from opposition parties seem to think the suspension of Parliament might have something to do with no-deal. In fact, opposition parties think Johnson’s plan has a lot to do with ushering in no-deal. But then again they could just be cynical, the PM may just want to get on with “helping the NHS, fighting violent crime, investing in infrastructure and science and cutting the cost of living”.

When the news broke of the prorogation Green Party MP Caroline Lucas said:

Nicola Sturgeon, Scotland’s First Minister (FM) and leader of the SNP, called today a “dark one” for UK democracy:

And Liz Saville Roberts, Plaid Cymru’s leader at Westminster, said:

Leader of the UK Labour Party and official opposition Jeremy Corbyn said:

And Shadow Chancellor of the Exchequer John McDonnell called Johnson’s actions “a very British coup”:

This is even more alarming

But what makes this even more alarming, is the Speaker of the House John Bercow was not informed of the plan to suspend Parliament by the Tory Government. When asked about the prorogation Bercow said:

And Corbyn has apparently written to the Queen to request a meeting over Johnson’s proroguing plans:

What an absolute omnishambles!

But I’m sure the Tories north of the border will be ready to stand up for Scotland….

Meanwhile the Tories in Scotland…

But you’ll be wondering what Scottish Conservative leader Ruth Davidson has to say on the matter. After all, Johnson’s move could be detrimental to Scotland and scupper relations further between Holyrood and Westminster. As reported by the Telegraph on 28 July, Davidson also said she will not “support a no-deal Brexit”. Surely Davidson – who is constantly touted as a “star” of the party and a “future leader” of the UK party by the adoring mainstream media – will be vocal on such a prominent announcement.

Channel 4 News correspondent Ciaran Jenkins has the answer:

And the Scottish FM is not surprised:

This is not democracy

So a Tory PM wants to shut down the UK Parliament and Scottish Tory leader is refusing to take interviews today. I don’t know about you, but I think Scotland deserves so much better than this. The Scottish electorate voted 62% to remain in the European Union (EU). But it looks as if Scotland will be forced out of the EU with no-deal and Johnson wants to shut down Parliament to get his own way.

This is not democracy.

 

Editors note: Since publication of this article the Queen has approved the prorogation of the UK Parliament.

 

Feature image from WikiMedia

By Brian Finlay

 

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