LONDON - Prime Minister Boris Johnson's
suspension of the British parliament was unlawful, a Scottish
court ruled on Wednesday, prompting immediate calls for
lawmakers to return to work as the government and parliament
battle over the future of Brexit.
Scotland's highest court of appeal ruled that Johnson's
decision to prorogue, or suspend, parliament from Monday until
Oct. 14 was unlawful -- a blow for the government as it seeks to
leave the European Union on Oct. 31 with or without a deal.
With seven weeks until Britain is due to leave the EU, the
government and parliament are locked in conflict over the future
of Brexit, with possible outcomes ranging from leaving without a
deal to another referendum that could cancel the divorce.
"We are calling for parliament to be recalled immediately,"
said Scottish National Party lawmaker Joanna Cherry, who led the
challenge, after Scotland's Court of Session ruled the
prorogation should be annulled.
"You cannot break the law with impunity, Boris Johnson."
The government will appeal against the ruling to the Supreme
Court, the United Kingdom's highest judicial body, and an
official said Johnson believed parliament remained suspended
pending a decision by that court.
Still, a group of opposition lawmakers gathered outside the
800-year-old Palace of Westminster demanding its recall.
Johnson announced on Aug. 28 that parliament would be
prorogued, saying the government wanted the suspension so it
could then launch a new legislative agenda.
Opponents said the real reason was to shut down debate and
challenges to his Brexit plans. The court was shown documents
that showed Johnson was considering prorogation weeks before he
formally asked Queen Elizabeth to suspend the legislature.
Buckingham Palace declined to comment on the ruling, saying
it was a matter for the government.
Dominic Grieve, one of 21 Brexit rebels thrown out of
Johnson's Conservative Party last week, said that if Johnson had
misled the queen, he should resign.
Johnson, who was a figurehead for the Vote Leave campaign in
the 2016 referendum, when 52 percent of voters backed Brexit,
has rejected opposition complaints that he was denying
parliament the right to debate Brexit in an undemocratic way.
BREXIT UP FOR GRABS
Johnson's bid to quit the bloc "do or die" on Oct. 31 has
hit the buffers: parliament has ordered him to delay Brexit
until 2020 unless he strikes a deal while a new Brexit Party is
threatening to poach Conservative voters.
After three years of tortuous Brexit crisis, British
politics is in turmoil, with the prime minister blocked by
parliament and an election or even a second referendum on the
cards.
In an excoriating judgment, the Scottish judges ruled the
principal reason for parliament's suspension was to stymie
lawmakers and allow Johnson to pursue a no-deal Brexit policy.
"This was an egregious case of a clear failure to comply
with generally accepted standards of behaviour of public
authorities," concluded one judge, Philip Brodie, according to a
summary of the court verdict.
Judge James Drummond Young had determined that "the only
inference that could be drawn was that the UK government and the
Prime Minister wished to restrict Parliament", it added.
Last week, the High Court of England and Wales rejected a
similar challenge by campaigners, was a political not a judicial
matter.
LABOUR SPLITS
The 2016 Brexit referendum showed a United Kingdom divided
about much more than the EU, and has given rise to
soul-searching about everything from secession and immigration
to capitalism, empire and modern Britishness.
It has also triggered civil war inside both of Britain’s
main political parties as dozens of lawmakers put what they see
as the United Kingdom's fate above that of party loyalty.
The divisions in the opposition Labour Party over Brexit
were on display on Wednesday, when its deputy leader, Tom
Watson, said he supported pressing for a second referendum
before an early national election.
"So let's deal with Brexit, in a referendum, where every
person can have their say, and then come together and fight an
election on Labour's positive social agenda on our own terms,
not on Boris Johnson's Brexit 'do or die'," he said in a speech
in London.
His argument, which puts him at odds with leader Jeremy
Corbyn, is that an election might fail to resolve the deadlock
over Brexit. Corbyn says Labour would offer the people a second
referendum on a credible option to leave against remaining in
the EU after an election.
Nigel Farage, leader of the Brexit Party which could take
votes away from both main parties, offered Johnson an election
pact on Wednesday but said that unless there was a clean break
with the EU, the Conservatives would take a "real kicking" in
any election and could not win a majority.
"If we go beyond the 31st of October and we are still a
member of the European Union - which looks increasingly likely -
then a lot of votes will shift from the Conservative Party to
the Brexit Party," Farage told reporters.
Johnson ruled out a pact with Farage.