Politics

Supreme Court: What will happen if judges rule against Boris on proroguing Parliament?


This morning the Supreme Court will announce its verdict as to whether Boris Johnson’s five-week prorogation of Parliament was lawful if he misled the Queen when asking for her approval. The High Court in London ruled in favour of the Government, stating the prorogation was “purely political” and not something for the courts to rule on. However, in Scotland, a cross-party group of MPs and peers won a ruling stating the decision to prorogue Parliament was unlawful as it was “motivated by the improper purpose of stymieing Parliament”.

Last week there were three days of hearings at the Supreme Court, and at 10.30am today (Tuesday) the judges will announce their verdict.

Former Conservative attorney general Dominic Grieve said Mr Johnson would have to resign if the Supreme Court determined he had misled the Queen.

However, Mr Johnson has said he will not resign if the court finds against him.

When asked by journalists on his flight to New York to meet with world leaders whether he would consider resigning if he loses today Mr Johnson said: “I will wait and see what the court decides.

“The reasons for wanting a Queen’s speech are very good.”

Brexit Supreme Court judgement: What time will the Supreme Court rule?

Then asked if he believed his position would be untenable, Mr Johnson responded: “No, I think the reasons for wanting a Queen’s speech are extremely good.

“Parliament will have bags of time to scrutinise the deal I hope to do.

“We must have a Queen’s speech. We have a big domestic agenda. We have to get on with tackling the priorities of the British people.

“It’s absolutely absurd to be totally fixated on Brexit.

“When it comes to parliamentary scrutiny, what are we losing?

“Four or five days of parliamentary scrutiny when they’ve had three years to discuss these issues and will be able to come back and discuss Brexit after the European Council on October 17.

“Donnez moi un break is my message to those who say there will be no parliamentary scrutiny. It is absolute nonsense.”

In a separate interview, Mr Johnson declined to discuss what happens next, saying: “Let’s wait to hear what the justices say.

“I do think it was right for us to have a Queen’s speech, we’ve had the longest period now without a Queen’s speech, the longest parliamentary session since the civil war.”

Of the decision, the Supreme Court president Lady Hale said: “We are solely concerned with the lawfulness of the prime minister’s decision to advise Her Majesty to prorogue Parliament on the dates in question.

“As we have heard, it is not a simple question, and we will now carefully consider all the arguments that have been presented to us.”

If the court does find against the Government, a second prorogation could take place, as Government lawyers will scrutinise the decision and attempt to suspend Parliament on different grounds.



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