UK PM wants to *pause* Parliament

[Jimmy Higgins]

So today in WTF?! is with the radical right in the Western Hemisphere...

Britain's Queen Elizabeth II was asked Wednesday by Prime Minister Boris Johnson to suspend Parliament, a constitutionally unusual move that makes it easier for Johnson to force through the country's departure from the European Union.

It means British parliamentarians, determined to stop the nation leaving the EU without a formal exit deal, will have little time to do so just weeks ahead of a Brexit deadline on Oct. 31. Johnson requested the Queen "prorogue" Parliament — shut it down, essentially — on Sept. 10, a week after lawmakers return from a summer recess.

So Johnson's plan for a Brexit (and avoiding a No Confidence vote) is to not allow Parliament a hand in either things.

The Queen, apparently, has approved it.

Boris Johnson said a Queen's Speech would take place after the suspension, on 14 October, to outline his "very exciting agenda".

The pause starts on September 1st. For those playing at home, they will recognize that it is August 28th. That means there are three days left. Which means...

To the courts!

This is another example of anti-Democratic behavior amongst the far-right using powers that exist, outside the context in which they were provided. Trump is tearing at the fabric of America's democracy and now Johnson is doing the same thing.

 

[AirPoh]

So today in WTF?! is with the radical right in the Western Hemisphere...

Britain's Queen Elizabeth II was asked Wednesday by Prime Minister Boris Johnson to suspend Parliament, a constitutionally unusual move that makes it easier for Johnson to force through the country's departure from the European Union.

It means British parliamentarians, determined to stop the nation leaving the EU without a formal exit deal, will have little time to do so just weeks ahead of a Brexit deadline on Oct. 31. Johnson requested the Queen "prorogue" Parliament — shut it down, essentially — on Sept. 10, a week after lawmakers return from a summer recess.

So Johnson's plan for a Brexit (and avoiding a No Confidence vote) is to not allow Parliament a hand in either things.

The Queen, apparently, has approved it.

Boris Johnson said a Queen's Speech would take place after the suspension, on 14 October, to outline his "very exciting agenda".

The pause starts on September 1st. For those playing at home, they will recognize that it is August 28th. That means there are three days left. Which means...

To the courts!

This is another example of anti-Democratic behavior amongst the far-right using powers that exist, outside the context in which they were provided. Trump is tearing at the fabric of America's democracy and now Johnson is doing the same thing.

The story I heard this morning is this that it's not unusual at all. All new PMs do it and then give a Queen's Speech. The timing just happens to fit in nicely with his Brexit plans.

 

[Jimmy Higgins]

A correction, looks like suspension would start some time between September 9th and 12th.

 

[bilby]

The proroguing of parliament isn't unusual, but the length of the break is - and is unprecedented for a brand new PM.

Johnson became PM just two days before the summer recess, and so has barely had a parliament at all; And it is this attempt to govern for many months, during a political crisis, without parliament (or at least without sufficient consecutive parliamentary sitting days for MPs to take any significant actions) that is the issue.

It's one of the traditional powers of the crown to set the exact dates of parliamentary sessions; And the monarch is expected to do this in accordance with the Prime Minister's advice. But ultimately parliament is supposed to be in charge, and the PM is parliament's man in the palace, who tells the monarch what parliament wants to do.

For the PM to try to work around, and not with, parliament, is unanticipated; The expected response would be a vote of no confidence, followed by a general election - but there's not enough time for that. The problem is that Theresa May invoked Article 50 unilaterally; A situation that committed the nation to a radical action before parliament had an opportunity to determine what the action entailed.

This whole clusterfuck is due to Prime Ministers overstepping their authority. Cameron comitted his party to being bound by a non-binding plebiscite; Then May started the clock on implementing that promise before parliament had agreed the details; And now Johnson seeks to suspend parliament so that they are unable to demand a further extension of time.

It's a coup. The Conservative Party has been taken over by the radical elements that Cameron sought to crush; And those hard-right elements now are using every trick and loophole to smash the system. The underlying assumption in the UK system of government is that all of the institutions of government want to protect the institutions of government, regardless of any political disagreements they might have.

This has ceased to be the case. Prime Ministers have seized power from parliament, and the current incumbent believes that he can get away with seizing even more.

The last time an individual tried to seize powers that were traditionally reserved to parliament, there was a civil war, that ended with his execution.

 

[EvoUK]

I dislike doing this, but I saw a lovely angry post about the whole mess, which you can read in full in the comments below an equally wonderful article by Mr. Crace of the Guardian:

How many times during the referendum did we hear that Parliament needs to "take back control" from the EU? Those meddling unelected bureaucrats that we didn't vote for, apparently. And now a corrupt mini-Trump who was voted in by 0.13% of the population is shutting down Parliament because he doesn't have the majority to get a hard Brexit through. A Brexit which, by the way, nobody voted for as there was no choice on the ballot paper, simply leave or remain.

Parliament has taken back control (which by the way it never lost, it was always sovereign) only to hand it to a man whose greatest achievement in office is to get stuck on a zipwire.
He was a shit Mayor (millions wasted on the garden bridge without a single brick being laid, commissioned his friend to design crap busses which needed modification almost the day they came into service, bought water canon he knew were unlawful to use, shut dozens of fire stations.... I could go on); he was a shit Foreign Secretary (just ask Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe's family); and a shit journalist (sacked twice for lying).

Proroguing Parliament is routine for a new government passing a Queen's speech - for a few days or a week. But this isn't a new government, it only came to power in 2017 (albeit propped up by the DUP). The leader is irrelevant. This suspension is for one reason only: to ensure the opposition can't get their collective shizz together to block No-Deal.

It's shameless and transparent, and it will probably work because we have the most hapless and hopeless leader of the opposition in a generation, a compliant press who champion leaving, and a government salivating at the thought of a trade deal with a country currently led by a cognitively impaired (and rapidly declining) dayglo orange shitgibbon.

It's also a dick move because the Tories have spent 3 years saying crap like "we hold all the cards", but nobody in a strong negotiating position would need to do something so desperate - thus exposing our bluff for the bullshit it always was. I'd bloody love to play poker against Johnson, he's so transparently easy to read. We may have "held all the cards" but they were a Joker, the instructions for Top Trumps, and Mr Bun the pissing Baker.

Back in April, when we were granted an extension, Donald Tusk cautioned us to "not waste this time". Since then we've had an Easter break, a leadership contest, a summer recess, and soon a break for party conference season. The EU planned - methodically - and stuck to the letter of clearly written laws and treaties. What did we do? Fuck all. In fact, worse that fuck all, we actively angered the people we were supposed to be negotiating with. This is 100% our mess, and for the likes of Hunt and Gove to frame it as the EU's fault for being intransigent is insulting. Just this week Johnson once again threatened to withhold payments we legitimately owe for pension contributions and the like.

The mood across the Channel is "just go already" - we're more trouble than we're worth. The 27 will take a hit economically in the short term, but can get on with building a united Europe without us constantly whinging and moaning despite having opt-outs and concessions the others can only dream of (not in the Euro, out of Schengen, rebate on payments - Maggie wasn't entirely evil, only 99.9%).

And you know what? No matter how much I may call Alexander deWhiffWhaff Arsehole Johnson a See-You-Next-Tuesday, I reserve all my vitriol for that smug moon-face pig-fucker Cameron for getting us into this mess then swanning off to his £27,000 caravan without a care in the world. It was all a game to him, and when he lost - spectacularly - he just waltzed off to count his millions. Absolute shithead.

Boris Johnson turns Queen's Balmoral stay into a holiday from hell

Words cannot currently describe my contempt for my government or even my parliament for allowing this to get to this stage.

I'm not sure who's country is more embarrassing right now, mine or yours (for the US posters, naturally). Obviously your president is a knob, but he has the backing of a superpower. Johnson doesn't, but he and his ilk still have illusions of grandeur. Its frankly appalling.

 

[Derec]

Jeremy Corbyn has floated the idea of forming a temporary "caretaker" government with support from Lib Dems, minor parties and disaffected Torries. This would topple Boris Johnson and prevent no-deal Brexit without requiring immediate general election.
The problem is that Corbyn is so far left, most MPs don't want him as PM, even temprarily. I am sure if Labour had a mode moderate leader this could have worked.
Corbyn Plan to Become U.K.’s Caretaker Prime Minister Falls Flat

 

[bilby]

The petition against this already has over a million signatures at the time of this post, and the rate at which new signatures have been accruing hasn't slowed noticeably in the 12 hours since it was posted.

Petition here (UK citizens and residents only)

Live count here

 

[bilby]

The petition against this already has over a million signatures at the time of this post, and the rate at which new signatures have been accruing hasn't slowed noticeably in the 12 hours since it was posted.

Petition here (UK citizens and residents only)

Live count here

The rate of new signatures has slowed (unsurprisingly as it's about one thirty am in the UK).

The graph below is matched to my time zone; 9am on the x-axis corresponds to midnight London time (BST).

 

[Jimmy Higgins]

England - At least our Cricket team isn't shit.

 

[Metaphor]

I don't understand the people opposed to a no-deal Brexit. The UK is exiting with or without a deal on October 31. The UK could ask for another extension, I suppose, but I get the feeling the EU is kinda sick of the UK's shit and has no reason to grant it.

And yet the UK House of Commons has rejected the only deal the UK has, and it also voted to reject a no-deal exit, as if voting against it could stop it! It reminds of when a legislature in the US voted in a motion that climate change doesn't exist.

 

[bilby]

I don't understand the people opposed to a no-deal Brexit. The UK is exiting with or without a deal on October 31. The UK could ask for another extension, I suppose, but I get the feeling the EU is kinda sick of the UK's shit and has no reason to grant it.

And yet the UK House of Commons has rejected the only deal the UK has, and it also voted to reject a no-deal exit, as if voting against it could stop it! It reminds of when a legislature in the US voted in a motion that climate change doesn't exist.

The UK can revoke Article 50 at any time.

They can then re-envoke it (if they really want to) at any time after they have got their shit together (or never, whichever happens sooner).

There's nothing inevitable about a Brexit of any kind. People were saying "The UK is exiting with or without a deal on March 29th", right up until they decided they weren't.

None of this shit was ever necessary, nor was it ever inevitable. It still isn't.

 

[Metaphor]

I don't understand the people opposed to a no-deal Brexit. The UK is exiting with or without a deal on October 31. The UK could ask for another extension, I suppose, but I get the feeling the EU is kinda sick of the UK's shit and has no reason to grant it.

And yet the UK House of Commons has rejected the only deal the UK has, and it also voted to reject a no-deal exit, as if voting against it could stop it! It reminds of when a legislature in the US voted in a motion that climate change doesn't exist.

The UK can revoke Article 50 at any time.

They can then re-envoke it (if they really want to) at any time after they have got their shit together.

There's nothing inevitable about a Brexit of any kind. People were saying "The UK is exiting with or without a deal on March 29th", right up until they decided they weren't.

None of this shit was ever necessary, nor was it ever inevitable. It still isn't.

I didn't know the UK could unilaterally revoke Article 50, interesting.

On the flipside, could the EU decide to boot the UK out?

 

[bilby]

I don't understand the people opposed to a no-deal Brexit. The UK is exiting with or without a deal on October 31. The UK could ask for another extension, I suppose, but I get the feeling the EU is kinda sick of the UK's shit and has no reason to grant it.

And yet the UK House of Commons has rejected the only deal the UK has, and it also voted to reject a no-deal exit, as if voting against it could stop it! It reminds of when a legislature in the US voted in a motion that climate change doesn't exist.

The UK can revoke Article 50 at any time.

They can then re-envoke it (if they really want to) at any time after they have got their shit together.

There's nothing inevitable about a Brexit of any kind. People were saying "The UK is exiting with or without a deal on March 29th", right up until they decided they weren't.

None of this shit was ever necessary, nor was it ever inevitable. It still isn't.

I didn't know the UK could unilaterally revoke Article 50, interesting.

On the flipside, could the EU decide to boot the UK out?

No, the EU can't kick the UK out.

The ECJ ruled shortly after A50 was invoked that the UK had the right to unilaterally revoke it at any time prior to actually leaving.

 

[fromderinside]

So the train wreck happens. Brits come to their senses. Says "We didn't mean it." 27 magic faeries wave their wands in unison and it's "plop, plop, fizz fizz, oh what a relief it is" ....

Makes me think there's an adult in the room.

 

[Jimmy Higgins]

I don't understand the people opposed to a no-deal Brexit. The UK is exiting with or without a deal on October 31. The UK could ask for another extension, I suppose, but I get the feeling the EU is kinda sick of the UK's shit and has no reason to grant it.

And yet the UK House of Commons has rejected the only deal the UK has, and it also voted to reject a no-deal exit, as if voting against it could stop it! It reminds of when a legislature in the US voted in a motion that climate change doesn't exist.

The UK can revoke Article 50 at any time.

They can then re-envoke it (if they really want to) at any time after they have got their shit together.

There's nothing inevitable about a Brexit of any kind. People were saying "The UK is exiting with or without a deal on March 29th", right up until they decided they weren't.

None of this shit was ever necessary, nor was it ever inevitable. It still isn't.

I didn't know the UK could unilaterally revoke Article 50, interesting.

How do you manage to discuss about such things, yet not know that a ruling came forth indicating that the UK could quit the Brexit at any time.

How unpopular is Brexit? No one can agree to a Brexit deal. The consequences of it are so up in the air and have the potential to eradicate the party politically.

Of course, the UK's greatest problem is it lacks an opposition party worth anything at the moment. Though, maybe Ben Stokes could wrangle something together at the last moment and go for the hat trick of impossible outcomes.

 

[Metaphor]

How do you manage to discuss about such things, yet not know that a ruling came forth indicating that the UK could quit the Brexit at any time.

What kind of answer do you want here? I didn't know about it and the articles I've read about Brexit in general have never, to my recall, mentioned it. The articles do talk about the deadlines and how the EU would have to agree to extensions of the deadlines. It would have been helpful to know that the UK could simply get an "indefinite" deadline extension by revoking article 50 and then re-invoking it when they had sorted their shit out.

 

[jonatha]

I understand the present prorogation is the longest since 1945. If the point of the prorogation is to ensure a no-deal Brexit on October 31st, why didn't Boris prorogue Parliament until November 1st?

 

[Derec]

I understand the present prorogation is the longest since 1945. If the point of the prorogation is to ensure a no-deal Brexit on October 31st, why didn't Boris prorogue Parliament until November 1st?

Because being that blatant may have led to a repeat of November 5th?

 

[bilby]

Well the commons just voted 328 to 301 to pause the government's control of parliamentary business.

Which makes Boris Johnson 0 from 1 in votes won in the commons - no wonder he wanted to stop them from sitting.

 

[Mediancat]

I understand the present prorogation is the longest since 1945. If the point of the prorogation is to ensure a no-deal Brexit on October 31st, why didn't Boris prorogue Parliament until November 1st?

Because being that blatant may have led to a repeat of November 5th?

That certainly would have backfired; it also would have made him out to be a lot more of a dictator than he seems to want to come across.

Rob