Paul Brand, ITV political correspondent, tweeted: “Senior source in the Lords confident that they can get a bill through to prevent No Deal by Monday, even with filibustering from governemtn. “Chamber may sit through the night Friday into Saturday, or even on the weekend.”
Prime Minister Boris Johnson was given permission yesterday by the Queen to suspend Parliament for a month to get his Brexit plans through, but this has seen a huge amount of opposition.
The Privy Council said in a statement: “It is this day ordered by Her Majesty in Council that the Parliament be prorogued on a day no earlier than Monday the 9th day of September and no later than Thursday the 12th day of September 2019 to Monday the 14th day of October 2019.”
The Privy Council meeting at Balmoral on Wednesday meeting was attended by Commons Leader Jacob Rees-Mogg, who is also the Lord President of the Council, along with Lords Leader Baroness Evans and Chief Whip Mark Spencer.
But former Tory prime minister Sir John Major is among those who attacked the move, saying he was seeking advice on its legality.
The Conservative Party also dealt with a fresh blow this morning as Scottish Tory leader Ruth Davidson and a Lords whip quit their posts.
Ms Davidson said she had taken the decision to stand down as she wanted to concentrate her time on her young family.
But she also highlighted “the conflict I have felt over Brexit”, adding: “I have attempted to chart a course for our party which recognises and respects the referendum result, while seeking to maximise opportunities and mitigate risks for key Scottish businesses and sectors.”
Meanwhile, Lord Young of Cookham, a Government whip in the upper house, was more direct, saying was “very unhappy” with the Prime Minister’s decision to prorogue Parliament for an extended period as the the October 31 deadline for Brexit looms.
The resignations came as Leader of the House of Commons Jacob Rees-Mogg hit back at the PM’s critics, saying the outpouring of outrage it triggered was “phoney”.
The leading Brexiteer also hit back at Commons Speaker John Bercow’s criticism, saying it was “not constitutional” for the Speaker to intervene in such a way.
Mr Rees-Mogg insisted the prorogation move was not intended to limit the time available for MPs to debate Brexit but will allow the Government to tackle other issues.
He said: “I think the outrage is phoney and it is created by people who don’t want us to leave the European Union and are trying very hard to overturn the referendum result and don’t want the benefits of leaving the European Union.”
He added: “Parliament wasn’t going to be sitting for most of this time anyway. This is completely constitutional and proper.”
MORE TO FOLLOW.
