Brexit pangs
Brexit, once hailed as a grand natural experiment for economists to dissect the repercussions of leaving a low-friction trade environment, has proven messier than anticipated.
UK parliamentary speaker John Bercow on Thursday warned Prime Minister Boris Johnson not to disobey the law by refusing to ask for a Brexit delay and vowed to thwart any attempt to circumvent legislation.
Bercow said while delivering lectures “Not obeying the law must surely be a non-starter. Period,” the BBC reported.
Earlier this month, Parliament passed a law that aimed at preventing a no-deal Brexit, but Johnson is adamant Britain will still leave the EU on schedule on October 31 with or without a withdrawal agreement.
Advertisement
During a speech in London, Bercow warned if the government comes close to doing so, parliament “would want to cut off such a possibility and do so forcefully”.
“If that demands additional procedural creativity in order to come to pass, it is a racing certainty that this will happen and that neither the limitations of the existing rule book nor the ticking of the clock will stop it doing so”.
His comments came after Johnson denied he had lied to Queen Elizabeth II when requesting a suspension of parliament this month.
On Thursday, the UK Parliament suspended for five weeks after Boris Johnson’s talks with his Irish counterpart failed to make any headway on the issue.
On Monday, Johnson suffered another defeat as MPs backed calls for the publication of government communications relating to the suspension of Parliament and its no-deal plans.
The prime minister insisted the government had been “massively accelerating” its preparations since the August 2 internal report, which was disclosed on Wednesday after MPs voted for its release.
Advertisement
