• About Us
  • Who Are We
  • Work With Us
Friday, February 26, 2021
No Result
View All Result
NEWSLETTER
The Globe Post
39 °f
New York
44 ° Fri
46 ° Sat
40 ° Sun
41 ° Mon
No Result
View All Result
The Globe Post
No Result
View All Result
Home Featured

Blow for UK PM as Court Strikes Down Parliament Suspension

Staff Writer by Staff Writer
09/24/19
in Featured, World
UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson

Boris Johnson has adopting a far more Eurosceptic and less pragmatic position on Brexit than his predecessor Theresa May. Photo: Stefan Rousseau, AFP

Share on FacebookShare on Twitter

Britain’s Supreme Court ruled Tuesday that Prime Minister Boris Johnson acted unlawfully in suspending parliament in the run-up to Brexit, in a momentous defeat that sparked calls for him to resign.

The ruling is a huge blow to Johnson’s authority and casts further doubt on his vow to leave the European Union on October 31 even without a deal with Brussels.

The Speaker of the House of Commons, John Bercow, immediately announced that MPs would reconvene on Wednesday morning.

The Conservative leader, who is currently in New York, told British media he “strongly disagreed” with the decision but said he would respect it.

He had argued that shutting down parliament until October 14 was a routine move to allow his new government to set out a new legislative program.

But critics accused him of trying to silence MPs.

Delivering the unanimous verdict of 11 judges, Supreme Court president Brenda Hale said “the decision to advise Her Majesty (Queen Elizabeth II) to prorogue was unlawful.”

UK Supreme Court: "The Court is bound to conclude, therefore, that the decision to advise Her Majesty to prorogue parliament was unlawful." pic.twitter.com/Yvc5N0nVxR

— euronews (@euronews) September 24, 2019

She said this was “because it had the effect of frustrating or preventing the ability of parliament to carry out its constitutional functions”.

As a result, the suspension was “void and of no effect,” Hale said, adding: “Parliament has not been prorogued.”

Bercow subsequently announced that he would reconvene the Commons at 11.30 am (1030 GMT) on Wednesday morning, while the upper House of Lords said it would return the same day.

The judges “have vindicated the right and duty of parliament to meet at this crucial time to scrutinize the executive,” Bercow said.

A small group of protesters outside the court hailed the decision, with one, Gareth Daniels, telling AFP: “This is a great day for democracy.”

‘Johnson Should Resign’ 

Jeremy Corbyn, the leader of the main opposition Labour party, led calls for the prime minister to step down.

“I invite Boris Johnson, in the historic words, to consider his position, and become the shortest serving prime minister there has ever been,” he told his party’s annual conference.

He brought forward his concluding speech to the meeting in Brighton, southern England, from Wednesday to Tuesday to allow him to be in Westminster.

Some opposition MPs called for a confidence vote in Johnson, and Bercow indicated that he would allow time for this if a formal request were made.

Jeremy Corbyn, the leader of the UK's opposition Labour Party, announced the Supreme Court's decision to massive cheers at his party conference.

"It demonstrates a contempt for democracy and an abuse of power" by the Prime Minister, said Corbyn. https://t.co/kmZqKZk6QR pic.twitter.com/exAsYgDmko

— CNN International (@cnni) September 24, 2019

“I think Boris Johnson should resign,” Scottish National Party leader Nicola Sturgeon told Sky News television.

The Supreme Court was ruling on two separate challenges, brought by more than 75 lawmakers and a team backed by former Conservative premier John Major.

“No prime minister must ever treat the monarch or parliament in this way again,” Major said after the verdict.

Frustrate Brexit 

But Johnson is likely to resist any demands to step down, even if his Conservatives no longer have a majority in the 650-seat House of Commons.

Opinion polls suggest his battles with MPs over Brexit are actually making him more popular with voters.

“Let’s be in no doubt, there are a lot of people who want to frustrate Brexit,” Johnson said in New York.

He said of the verdict: “I don’t think that it’s right, but we will go ahead and of course parliament will come back.”

Johnson only took office on July 24, but has endured a torrid few weeks in office as he battles a hostile parliament over Brexit.

Three years after the 2016 referendum, he insists Britain must leave the EU next month in all circumstances.

But lawmakers fear the disruptive impact of leaving without a deal, which the government itself has admitted could cause food and medicine shortages, and civil unrest.

In the week between returning from their summer holiday and prorogation on September 10, MPs passed a law aiming to stop “no deal”.

The law obliges Johnson to ask to delay Brexit by three months if he has not agreed a divorce deal by an EU summit on October 17 and 18.

Johnson said Tuesday that he hoped he can agree new exit terms to replace those struck by his predecessor Theresa May, which was rejected by MPs.

“Obviously getting a deal is not made much easier against this background but we’re going to get on and get a deal,” he said.

But E.U. leaders are not as hopeful, accusing London of failing to come up with serious alternatives to the current agreement.

After meeting Johnson in New York on Monday, E.U. Council President Donald Tusk tweeted: “No breakthrough. No breakdown. No time to lose.”


More on the Subject

UK’s Johnson Defeated in Key Brexit Vote, Setting Up Potential Election

ShareTweet
Staff Writer

Staff Writer

AFP with The Globe Post

Related Posts

Britain's Prime Minister Boris Johnson.
World

UK Passes 100,000 Covid Deaths as European States Eye Tighter Borders

by Staff Writer
January 26, 2021
UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson.
National

UK Slams ‘Disgraceful Scenes’ at Capitol by Trump Supporters

by Staff Writer
January 6, 2021
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson
World

Britain Holds Crisis Meeting Over Virus Travel Ban

by Staff Writer
December 21, 2020
Conversion therapy has affected hundreds of thousands of individuals in the US.
World

More Than 300 Religious Leaders Urge Ban on ‘Conversion Therapy’

by Staff Writer
December 16, 2020
China tests citizens for coronavirus.
World

China Tests Entire City for Virus as WHO Slams Herd Immunity Idea

by Staff Writer
October 13, 2020
A woman in a face mask at the King's Cross Station, London.
Opinion

The UK’s Woeful Response to the Coronavirus

by Ben Williams
October 5, 2020
Next Post
Greta Thunberg gives an impassioned speech at the UN climate summit, September 23, 2019.

Greta Thunberg Berates Leaders as UN Climate Summit Falls Short

A girl blows out smoke after inhaling an e-cigarette.

Why Vaping Devices Can’t be Blamed for US Outbreak of Lung Illnesses

Recommended

What President Biden Should Do About the Uyghur Genocide

What President Biden Should Do About the Uyghur Genocide

February 26, 2021
Former US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo (L) meets with Sudanese Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok in Khartoum, last August

Sudan’s Normalization With Israel Is a Win for Everyone

February 26, 2021
Ethiopian refugees who fled the conflict in Tigray gather to receive aid at the Tenedba camp.

Eritrean Troops Killed ‘Hundreds’ in Ethiopia Massacre: Amnesty

February 26, 2021
COVID-19 vaccine

Syria Health Workers to Receive Covid Vaccine From Next Week

February 25, 2021
Moria migrant camp which was destroyed in a fire in 2020 on the Greek Aegean island of Lesbos.

Pregnant Migrant Sets Herself on Fire in Greek Camp

February 24, 2021
HRW released a statement on China's increasing prosecution of Muslim minorities in Xinjiang.

China Targets Uighurs With More Prosecutions, Longer Prison Terms: HRW

February 24, 2021

Opinion

What President Biden Should Do About the Uyghur Genocide

What President Biden Should Do About the Uyghur Genocide

February 26, 2021
Former US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo (L) meets with Sudanese Prime Minister Abdalla Hamdok in Khartoum, last August

Sudan’s Normalization With Israel Is a Win for Everyone

February 26, 2021
Stolpersteine in Greifswald, Germany.

I Can’t Mark Where My Grandfather Is Buried, but I Want to Mark Where He Lived

February 26, 2021
Republican Senator from Missouri Josh Hawley

Trump’s Acquittal and Republican Senators: Not Setting the Bar Low Enough

February 22, 2021
Why Not Equality for America’s Puerto Rican Men and Women?

Why Not Equality for America’s Puerto Rican Men and Women?

February 19, 2021
Refugee child holding up a sign reading 'we are human like you'

US Asylum Laws Must Catch up With the Reality of Today’s Refugees

February 18, 2021
Facebook Twitter

Newsletter

Do you like our reporting?
SUBSCRIBE

About Us

The Globe Post

The Globe Post is part of Globe Post Media, a U.S. digital news organization that is publishing the world's best targeted news sites.

submit oped

© 2018 The Globe Post

No Result
View All Result
  • National
  • World
  • Business
  • Interviews
  • Lifestyle
  • Democracy at Risk
    • Media Freedom
  • Opinion
    • Editorials
    • Columns
    • Book Reviews
    • Stage
  • Submit Op-ed

© 2018 The Globe Post