Boris Johnson news – live: PM loses second attempt to trigger early general election
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Your support makes all the difference.No 10 has announced that a five-week suspension parliament will begin tonight, as Boris Johnson’s flies back from his first official meeting with Irish counterpart Leo Varadkar in Dublin.
It comes as the prime minister sets up a possible Brexit showdown in the Supreme Court after it emerged No 10 is ready to launch a legal fight against the anti-no deal legislation.
Mr Johnson is also reportedly ready to send a second letter to the EU – alongside the request for a three-month delay required of him – explaining he does not actually want any delay after 31 October. Labour figures branded the plan “illegal” and “monumentally ridiculous”.
At one point in the joint press conference, Boris Johnson did accidentally say Brexit may take “30 years” instead of 30 days.
Here’s our correspondent Benjamin Kentish with more on the idea of impeaching Boris Johnson through arcane parliamentary procedure.
Another Tory MP announces he will be standing down at the next election.
The home secretary Priti Patel is speaking at the Police Superintendents’ Association conference in Stratford-upon-Avon this morning.
Our home affairs correspondent Lizzie Dearden is at the conference and says Patel has asked the police for a “reset” in relations, admitting: “I’m ashamed to say you haven’t always had enough support.”
As if there wasn’t enough going on this morning, a meeting has taken place between Jeremy Corbyn and opposition leaders.
They have apparently agreed to vote against a general election and carry on with the “let him stew in his own juices” strategy.
BREAKING: Parliament will be prorogued later today until 14 October despite the ongoing crisis surrounding Brexit, the prime minister’s spokesman has announced.
Follow our breaking story.
More reaction to the suspension of parliament.
Tom Brake, Lib Dem MP and Brexit spokesperson, said: “The government’s move to shut down parliament, as early as today, may be technically legal, but it is unprecedented.
“With the threat of no deal still looming, it’s vital parliament is able to hold this minority government to account. What has Boris Johnson got to hide?
Alison McGovern, Labour MP, said: “Small reminder. If we weren’t being suspended and sent away, we could be cancelling the conference recess given the Brexit deadline. So anyone who says this is normal has got it wrong.”
Stewart McDonald, SNP MP, said: “If this stuff was happening in Eastern Europe or Latin America, Tory MPs would be pontificating about it being a failed state. But they’ve wrapped a union flag around this shambles so it’s all okay.”
Union leaders have torn into Boris Johnson’s plans to suspend the Commons, saying the “parliament does not belong to him or his rich mates”.
Frances O’Grady, general secretary of the TUC, said the prime minister and his allies think “they’re Westminster’s answer to the Sex Pistols but, in truth, they’re just the bully boys of the British elite”.
In a speech to the TUC’s annual gathering in Brighton, she said: “The prime minister acts like he’s the clown prince of Downing Street. But the last thing we need is BoJo the clown in charge. And Brexit isn’t a game.”
O’Grady said unions would take action if the prime minister refuses to obey anti no-deal legislation which is expected to receive royal assent this week.
“If workers vote to strike to defend their jobs, then the gloves are off. And I want to make this crystal clear - this whole movement will stand together.”
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