UK Parliament Suspension: Boris Johnson Wins In Court

UK Prime Minister, Boris Johnson

A High Court in London has rejected a suit challenging Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s decision to suspend parliament for five weeks ahead of Queen’s speech on 14 October.

But in Parliament things don’t look for Johnson as reports said Jeremy Corbyn’s Labour and other parties have agreed not to Support PM’s General Election demand before EU Summit.

The Mail Online reported that Labour will block Boris Johnson’s plans for an early General Election until November after entering into a pact with the SNP to stop a No Deal exit.

According to the newspaper, Jeremy Corbyn held a secret meeting on Thursday with Ian Blackford, the Scottish nationalists’ Westminster leader, to agree an election should only be held after Britain has secured another Brexit delay from the EU.

Mr Corbyn believes he can derail the Prime Minister’s plans to hold a vote on October 15, forcing him to seek another delay to Brexit.

The Labour and SNP chiefs agreed to October 20 at the earliest, The Telegraph reported, although Mr Corbyn’s advisers have told him to go for November.

The Prime Minister is being frustrated by Mr Corbyn, who along with Mr Blackford, has repeatedly called for a general election over the last two years, only to back off with October 31 looming.

Mr Johnson is expected to go for broke on Monday and call for a general election again after he was slapped down in the Commons this week.

It comes after yet another atrocious day for the Prime Minister on Thursday, with his younger brother Jo Johnson resigning from the cabinet and Johnson being heckled by the public on the campaign trail, where he made the desperate statement that he will rather die in the ditch than delay Brexit beyond 31 October.

The legal challenge against Johnson’s planned suspension of parliament was filed by remainer campaigner Gina Milla.

The court said the case could still be taken to the Supreme Court for a final appeal.

Johnson announced at the end of August that he would suspend parliament from mid-September to mid-October, just before Britain is due to leave the European Union on Oct. 31, so the government could announce a new legislative program.

That prompted campaigner Gina Miller, who defeated the government over another Brexit issue two years ago, to bring a legal challenge. She was later joined in the process by former Prime Minister John Major and opposition political parties.

Miller told reporters outside court that parliament should be sitting during such a crucial time for Britain’s democracy, and she would not give up the fight.

“The Supreme Court has penciled in Sept. 17 for the appeal hearing,” she said. “My legal team and I will not give up the fight for democracy.”

Miller’s lawyer, David Pannick, argued on Thursday that comments from Johnson showed an important part of his reasoning for the prorogation, or suspension, was that parliament might say or do something that impeded the government’s Brexit plans.

The legal challenge has lost some of its impact after lawmakers voted this week to force Johnson to seek a three-month delay to Brexit rather than leave without an agreement on Oct. 31, a move that is likely to lead to an election.

Separate legal challenges to Johnson’s Brexit plans are also being heard in Scotland and Northern Ireland.

-NAN