‘Zombie’ parliament warrants new suspension, says Johnson

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson is preparing to claim a mandate for a second prorogation to end a ‘zombie’ parliament.

‘Held captive by the zombie parliament and zombie opposition’: Boris Johnson in the House of Commons on Thursday. Picture: AFP

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson is preparing to claim a mandate for a second prorogation to end a “zombie” parliament after Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn blocked his third attempt to force an election.

Mr Johnson accused Mr Corbyn of “sheer selfishness and political cowardice” as he urged Labour to bring a vote of no confidence and “face the day of reckoning”.

He said the electorate was being “held captive by the zombie parliament and zombie opposition” that were determined to keep Britain in the EU.

Downing Street, however, ­appeared to concede defeat late on Wednesday (Thursday AEST) in its attempts to call an election before Britain is due to leave the EU on October 31 and said Mr Johnson was considering a second prorogation before a Queen’s Speech.

The suggestion, on the day parliament resumed after the ­Supreme Court ruled that Mr Johnson’s previous decision to prorogue it was unlawful, risks further legal action from campaigners concerned he is attempting to frustrate scrutiny of Brexit.

Mr Johnson, who cut short a trip to the UN in New York, challenged opposition parties to table a vote of no confidence in his government. While Labour has refused outright to back an election until a further delay to Brexit has been agreed, Mr Johnson suggested in his speech that “small parties” could do so instead.

However, the Scottish National Party, the Liberal Democrats and Plaid Cymru rejected Mr Johnson’s offer before he had even stood up in the Commons after a copy of his speech was leaked.

Downing Street suggested Mr Johnson was preparing to prorogue parliament for a second time. Asked if he was willing to do so, a spokesman said: “I think you heard the Prime Minister say clearly that he believes there is a need for him to put forward a serious agenda.”

Dominic Grieve, a former ­attorney-general who was stripped of the Tory whip, said: “It is within his power to prorogue parliament for a very short period of five or six days if he wants to have a new state opening and a new session in the next week or so. Anything beyond that it unlawful. The court will act very swiftly.”

Labour accused Downing Street of trying to scupper a cross-party deal to allow Tory MPs to attend next week’s Conservative conference as part of moves to discredit parliament. Labour and Liberal Democrat conferences went ahead during the prorogation. But they will block a short recess during the Tories’s meeting in Manchester because that would undermine their argument parliament must sit as a check on executive power in the critical weeks running up to October 31.

Mr Johnson’s personal ratings have suffered after the Supreme Court ruling. Thirty-three per cent of voters now believe that the Prime Minister is competent, according to the latest YouGov survey for The Times. That is down from 41 per cent three weeks ago.

His reputation for honesty, which has long been one of his weakest points, also took a hit. Three weeks ago 25 per cent of voters believed him to be honest, compared with 22 per cent now. Half of those polled also said that they thought he was putting on an act, a rise of three percentage points.

There has been little change to voting intentions in the past week. Of those polled, 33 per cent said they would vote Conservative, up from 32 per cent a week ago. Labour and the Liberal Democrats were level with 22 per cent each, Labour having gained a point and the Lib Dems having lost one since last week. Nigel Farage’s Brexit Party held steady at 14 per cent.

The Times