Why Boris Johnson suspending parliament matters

Boris Johnson has prorogued parliament for a month ahead of Brexit, causing outrage in the Commons. Why is this important?

Boris Johnson has suspended parliament. Picture: AFP.

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson has prorogued parliament for a month ahead of Brexit, causing outrage among some MPs and sending the pound down against the dollar. What does this mean and why does it matter?

What is prorogation?

It is when a parliamentary session is brought to an end by the British monarch on the advice of the government. The practice, which normally takes place every autumn in the UK, allows government to reset the legislative timetable and set out a revised vision of what it wants to achieve in office in the next session. After a few days, parliament resumes with the Queen’s Speech setting out the legislative timetable for the next session. During the period of prorogation — between the moment the House of Commons is suspended and the Queen reopens parliament — MPs can’t pass laws.

The current session, which began after the June 2017 general election, has been the longest since the English Civil War.

Why is it such a big deal?

Brexit. The UK is due to quit the European Union on October 31. Some MPs in the House of Commons are against leaving without a deal to smooth the country’s departure from the EU. If Mr Johnson fails to get a revised Brexit deal, rebel MPs want to have the power to force him to ask the EU for an extension to negotiations beyond that Oct. 31 deadline. Key to that is having time to pass laws that would force him to do this. So Mr. Johnson’s move eats into the time available to them.

Could the Queen refuse to suspend parliament?

In theory yes, but this hasn’t been tested in modern times. The monarch is by convention not supposed to meddle in parliamentary affairs. On Wednesday the queen signed off on the suspension, as she was expected to do.

Speaker John Bercow has accused Boris Johnson of endangering democracy. Picture: AFP.

Why are opposition MPs so angry?

MPs argue that parliament should be in place to scrutinise and challenge the government’s handling of Brexit; in an unprecedented move, Speaker John Bercow inserted himself into the debate accusing Mr Johnson of abandoning democracy. A key gripe is that Mr Johnson is suspending parliament for too long. Normally the gap between closing and reopening is a matter of days. But the government is suspending parliament from anytime between the September 9 and October 14. So parliament could be out of action for about a month. In practice though, MPs wouldn’t have been sitting that whole time. Traditionally they take three weeks out in mid-September to attend political-party conferences.

More crucially, however, anti no-deal MPs were gearing up to vote down the plans for the conference recess, in order to keep the Commons sitting.

Will Mr. Johnson’s tactic work?

Parliament has previously voted on several occasions against the idea of no-deal, so a clash with the government looks inevitable. When the Commons returns next week, MPs will try to pass legislation to extend the Brexit deadline, or trigger a general election. If that fails, Jeremy Corbyn will table a confidence vote. But time is running very short and as with everything Brexit related, the outcome is totally unpredictable.

Why is this prorogation so unusal?

Annual prorogation in the UK usually lasts a matter of days rather than weeks, as is the case this time around.

Also, while the British parliament is suspended almost every year between sessions, prorogation is seldom influenced by political considerations. This is only the fourth time the British parliament has been prorogued for political reasons since 1628 when Charles 1 dissolved the Parliament of England. The last time was in March 1997, when John Major prorogued parliament at a time that avoided debate on the ‘cash-for-questions’ scandal involving then Harrods owner Mohamed Fayed. That suspension was followed by a May general election, which was won by Tony Blair’s Labour.

Timetable until Brexit

Last night: A small delegation of privy counsellors, led by Jacob Rees-Mogg, asked the Queen to agree to the prorogation plan.

September 3: MPs return to Westminster from their summer recess.

Week commencing September 9: After debates on the Northern Ireland executive, parliament will be prorogued.

September 14-17: Liberal Democrat conference

September 21-25: Labour Party conference

September 29 — October 2: Conservative Party conference

October 14: Queen’s Speech

October 17-18: European Council summit of EU leaders

October 21-22: Votes on Queen’s Speech

October 31: Article 50 expires and the UK leaves the European Union.

With The Times