Yet another tile for Boris Johnson. The Supreme Court of Great Britain has declared the 5-week suspension of Parliament illegal wanted by the British Premier, accepting the appeal presented by the opponents of the Government and by the pro-remain activists. A very heavy decision, motivated with very harsh words, which makes Downing Street tremble and Boris Johnson's premiership waver more and more.
The ruling was unanimously reached by a panel of 11 High Court judges, according to which "Parliament must meet as soon as possible and decide on the next steps".
At the end of August Johnson had asked the Queen, who subsequently gave the go-ahead, to postpone his speech in Parliament to October 14, thus resulting in a halt in the activities of the deputies of about 5 weeks. Traditionally instead the suspension – technically called prorogation and useful to give the Government time to prepare the new policies to be implemented – it only lasts a few days. According to Johnson's detractors, the Tory leader's request was based on the will to block any attempt by the opposition to prevent the No deal or, in any case, to put his mouth on the path that will lead to the exit of the United Kingdom from the European Union. The Brexit deadline is in fact set for October 31, only 15 days after the end date of the stop.
However, the oppositions did not give up and decided to take action. On the parliamentary front they approved in extremis, thanks to the support of some members of the Conservative party, an anti-no-deal law and a motion that rejected the early vote requested by Johnson (the Premier, strengthened by a large advantage indicated by the polls, wanted to return to the polls to strengthen his majority), making the suspension of the Chambers de facto futile. On the judicial front, however, they presented well three appeals in Scotland, England and Wales. The matter then ended up in the hands of the Supreme Court justices who ruled that “The decision to advise HM The Queen to suspend Parliament is illegal because it has prevented the Chambers from carrying out its constitutional functions without reasonable justification,” explained the president of the High Court Brenda Hale.
The verdict speaks of an "illegal, null and void" stoppage and gives the speaker of Parliament the power to reconvene the chambers as soon as possible. “The House of Commons must be convened without delay.”, said the Speaker of Parliament, John Bercow who immediately announced the resumption of work for tomorrow, September 25th. Bercow specified that it is a "resumption" of the works and not a "reconvening".
“I have to say that I strongly disagree with the verdict reached by the judges. I don't think it's right but we will certainly go ahead and Parliament will return,” Johnson commented speaking to the press in New York. "The court's ruling makes it more difficult to achieve progress in negotiations with the EU for a new Brexit deal", he continued, however proving to be optimistic: "It's time for us to get a good deal and that's what we're working on" .
From the opposition side instead Jeremy Corbyn, number one of the Labor Party, has invited the Premier to "reconsider his position", speaking of a "historic" verdict which certifies Johnson's "contempt of Parliament". the Scottish nationalist party, which has openly called for the resignation of the Prime Minister, is also tough. The reactions are multiplying by the minute. The Prime Minister was also accused of deliberately deceiving the Queen about her, tricking her into signing an illegal deed. The internal war over Brexit has reached its nadir.
