Hundreds of thousands to rally against Johnson’s prorogation

Protesters will target Johnson ally’s home as hundreds of thousands protest in biggest act of civil disobedience in decades.

Hundreds of thousands of protesters are planning “civil disobedience” this weekend. Picture: AFP.

British protesters plan to target lead Brexiteer Jacob Rees-Mogg’s home today as hundreds of thousands plan mass demonstrations across the country after Boris Johnson’s decision to prorogue parliament.

Avon and Somerset police were alerted after social media users posted the address of the pub near Mr Rees-Mogg’s home where they planned to meet before targeting the leader of the Commons. Last year a demonstration at his Westminster home drew widespread criticism after protesters shouted at his children.

Jeremy Corbyn has encouraged his supporters to join protesters planning to “shut down the streets” in the biggest act of civil disobedience in decades.

One campaigner pledged “civil disobedience, in whatever form that takes”.

It came as best-selling author Sir Philip Pullman was forced to apologise today after tweeting about hanging Mr Johnson “from the nearest lamp post”. John McDonnell, the shadow chancellor, called the Tory leader a dictator, comparing him with Adolph Hitler.

The Telegraph UK also reports that Speaker John Bercow has interrupted a family holiday to phone leading Remainr Sir Oliver Letwin to plot how to prevent Mr Johnson from proroguing parliament.

The Speaker, who is required to be impartial, reportedly discussed with Sir Oliver a plan to fast-track legislation through parliament to thwart Mr Johnson. Mr Bercow had described the PM’s plan to prorogue parliament as a “constitutional outrage”.

Earlier today Downing Street rebuked Ben Wallace, the Defence Secretary, after he was caught on camera appearing to admit that parliament was being prorogued because of Mr Johnson’s fragile grip on power in the Commons.

Protesters will target Jacob Rees-Mogg’s home as hundreds of thousands take to the streets. Picture; Getty Images.

Another Europe is Possible, the anti-Brexit campaign group, is expecting hundreds of thousands of people to attend demonstrations at Downing Street, Glasgow, Leeds, Liverpool, Manchester, Newcastle, Nottingham, Oxford, Sheffield and York on Saturday.

Supporters invoked the 1984 miners’ strike and the 1990 Poll Tax riots on social media, suggesting demonstrations would descend into violence if police intervened.

Michael Chessum, the organiser who is also an activist for Momentum — the hard left campaign group originally formed to propel Mr Corbyn to the leadership of the Labour Party.-

warned of widespread disruption.

‘These protests will be unpredictable,” he said. “We will organise the rallies but then what people do is anybody’s guess.

“There are a lot of passionate and angry people and we cannot just persuade Boris Johnson nicely that what he is doing is wrong.

“We are encouraging civil disobedience, in whatever form that takes. It might mean shutting down bridges it might mean marching to Buckingham Palace and protesting the Queen.

“We are against Brexit but this protest is uniting people from all over the spectrum — it’s not just Remainers, it’s people who support Brexit but disagree with what Boris Johnson is doing.

“There will be disruption and I’m sorry for that but in the face of what Boris is planning it will be worth it. The Suffragettes burnt down the home of David Lloyd George, the chancellor of the Exchequer. I’m sure that was disruptive for him.

“We’re facing a situation where the prime minister is attempting to delay a Brexit deal and turn us into a tax haven aligned with Donald Trump. These are huge issues at stake.”

Mr McDonnell added: “I just give Boris Johnson this warning, really. Trying to undermine the very institution that people have given their lives for, to secure this democracy — to try to undermine that flies in the face of a whole history and centuries of democratic advancement in this country.

“I don’t think the British people will tolerate that. They have stood up to dictators before and they will stand up to this one as well.”

Mr McDonnell also confirmed that Labour would keep the option of a confidence vote in the government “on the table” in a bid to stop a no-deal Brexit.

Earlier in the day Pullman, who wrote the fantasy trilogy His Dark Materials, wrote on Twitter: “When I hear the name ‘Boris Johnson’, for some reason the words ‘rope’ and ‘nearest lamppost’ come to mind as well.”

I've deleted a tweet which apparently upset a lot of people. I don't advocate hanging Boris Johnson. I think that would be a very bad idea.

— Philip Pullman (@PhilipPullman) August 29, 2019

The message provoked a row on the social media website and Pullman added flame to the fire by tweeting: “The ‘prime minister’ has finally come out as a dictator. I’ve had enough of being outraged. We must get rid of him and his loathsome gang as soon and as finally as possible.”

Following criticism about his tweet he wrote: “For goodness’ sake. Of course I wasn’t advocating hanging the b*****d.

“But rulers who try and do away with democratic parliaments come to bad ends. As I pointed out on Twitter some time ago, the axe and the block are still in working order.”

The Times, agencies