Prorogation and Brexit deadlock
Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s decision to prorogue Britain's parliament for five weeks is unlawful, according to a historic ruling by a Scottish court on last Wednesday. A panel of three judges at the Court of Session found in favor of a cross-party group of politicians who challenged the suspension, which started in the early hours of last week on Tuesday. The decision overturned a previous ruling, which said Johnson did not break the law with the prorogation. Now, it is expected that an appeal at the Supreme Court – the U.K.’s highest judicial body – will start next Tuesday. This will be important to watch in this week as markets could react to the final decision of prorogation.
Last week Boris Johnson said that he had not lied to Queen about the need of prorogation. Following the decision of the Scottish court, “We are disappointed by today’s decision, and will appeal to the UK Supreme Court. The UK Government needs to bring forward a strong domestic legislative agenda. Proroguing Parliament is the legal and necessary way of delivering this,” said a statement by 10 Downing Street.
The prorogation of both houses of the parliament until the queen's speech on Oct. 14 has been under scrutiny as it was seen a move to run the clock down until the Brexit deadline of Oct. 31 – a date on which Johnson has insisted the U.K. would leave the EU with or without a deal. Clearly possibility of the UK without a deal is rising while the Brexit time is ticking. Boris Johnson also still has not come up with a alternative plan for Northern Ireland backstop issue. In upcoming days, we can either see Boris Johnson resigning or asking for an extension from Brussels.