Brussels warns over PM’s ‘sinister’ Brexit move
The EU has warned that Boris Johnson’s move to prorogue parliament ahead of the Brexit Halloween deadline could increase the chances of a no-deal.
The Queen today agreed that parliament could be suspended, or prorogued, from mid-September to 14 October, when she will give a new Queen’s Speech. The move, which has reduced the number of parliament’s sitting days by around a week, has put further pressure on an already tight timeframe, making it tougher for pro-Remain MPs to stop a no-deal Brexit.
Guy Verhofstadt, the European Parliament’s Brexit coordinator, tweeted his support for Westminster’s MPs.
“‘Taking back control’ has never looked so sinister,” he wrote. “As a fellow parliamentarian, my solidarity with those fighting for their voices to be heard. Suppressing debate on profound choices is unlikely to help deliver a stable future EU-UK relationship.”
Nathalie Loiseau, a former Europe minister and ally of the French president, Emmanuel Macron, said it revealed a “disease” in British democracy and warned it could make a no-deal more likely.
“We could see a Brexit without an agreement,” the MEP wrote on Twitter. “It is, moreover, a Brexit without debate that is looming. From what disease is British democracy suffering from that there is a fear of debate before taking one of the most important decisions in its history?”
Norbert Rӧttgen, the chairman of the foreign affairs committee in the German Bundestag, echoed this. “Johnson argues that respect or democracy dictates implementing Brexit ‘do or die’ on October 31. As a fellow parliamentarian and democrat I wonder: how does respect for democracy go together with suspending parliament?!”
Main image: Getty