Category Archives: European Union

Boris Johnson’s prorogation of parliament is lawful, high court rules

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PM found to have acted lawfully in advice he gave to Queen to suspend parliament

Boris Johnson’s decision to prorogue parliament for five weeks is legal, the high court in London has ruled.

In a judgment handed down by three of the most senior judges in England and Wales, the prime minister was found to have acted lawfully in the advice he gave to the Queen to suspend parliament from next week.

The ruling will be go to appeal at the supreme court, which has already announced it is prepared to hear any appeals on 17 September.

Earlier this week, a Scottish court turned down a similar legal challenge. A third claim seeking to overturn the prime minister’s decision to prorogue parliament until 14 October is being heard in Belfast.

Prorogation has never lasted longer than three weeks in the past 40 years and in most cases was only for a week or less, the London court was told.

During Thursday’s hearing, Lord Pannick QC, representing the legal campaigner Gina Miller, described the prime minister’s decision as an “unlawful abuse of power”.

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Guarantee the legal status of all EU migrants living in the UK | Letters

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Signatories including Diane Abbott and Alf Dubs say the rights of EU nationals should be guaranteed. Plus Richard Griffiths on his Swedish wife’s difficulty in getting settled status and Emanuele Maindron on her family being torn apart. And another contributor says spare a thought for non-EU nationals too

In his first statement as prime minister, Boris Johnson gave “unequivocally our guarantee to the 3.2 million EU nationals now living and working among us … that, under this government, they will have the absolute certainty for the right to live and remain”. In less than a day, the prime minister’s spokesperson rushed to clarify that this did not mean new legislation would be proposed. Instead Johnson would maintain the EU Settlement Scheme.

As campaigners have pointed out, the current scheme implies that migrants who fail to apply will lose their legal status and residency rights. Figures suggest at least 2 million EU nationals have not applied for settled status yet. In order to be given settled status, migrants have to prove they have lived in the UK for at least five years.

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Erdoğan: I’ll let Syrian refugees leave Turkey for west unless safe zone set up

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Turkish president threatens to ‘open the gates’ in face of footdragging from US and EU

The Turkish president, Recep Tayyip Erdoğan, is threatening to “open the gates” to allow Syrian refugees to leave Turkey for western countries unless a controversial “safe zone” inside Syria is established soon.

Erdoğan’s comments come amid growing tension with Washington over delays in establishing the safe zone – first proposed by Donald Trump – not least over the fate of a key US-allied Kurdish militia, the YPG, which Ankara regards as a terrorist organisation.

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Boris Johnson accused of using police as ‘props’ during rambling Brexit speech – live news

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PM addresses police in Wakefield after brother Jo Johnson quits citing ‘unresolvable tension’ between ‘family loyalty and the national interest’

The Irish prime minister, Leo Varadkar, has warned that there is “no such thing as a clean break” – Brexit deal or no Brexit deal – with difficult and complex negotiations on the future relationship with the EU whatever the outcome of talks. In a speech in Dublin to the British and Irish Chambers of Commerce, he has said:

If there is no deal – and I believe we may have to live with no deal for a period – then, at a certain point, we will have to begin negotiations again. The first and only items on the agenda ... will be citizens’ rights, the financial settlement with the EU and a solution to the Irish border.

Whatever happens, Ireland will not be dragged out of the single European market.

Recently, Prime Minister Johnson and I spoke by phone. We spoke of our shared desire to see the Northern Ireland political institutions reinstated. We shared our perspectives on the withdrawal agreement and agreed that our teams would establish one-to-one contact.

We will meet again in Dublin on Monday. Unfortunately, given political developments in the UK, there is a significant and growing risk of no-deal.

Here’s some more detail on the criticism of Johnson from the West Yorkshire police and crime commissioner, Labour’s Mark Burns-Williamson:

To use police officers as the backdrop to what became a political speech was inappropriate and they shouldn’t have been put in that position.

It clearly turned into a rant about Brexit, the opposition and a potential general election. There’s no way that police officers should’ve formed the backdrop to a speech of that nature.

Yes, because he’s used the pretence of an announcement around police recruitment for mainly a political speech.

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Brexit: Boris Johnson to table motion for general election – live news

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More than a dozen Tories defy leader by voting in favour of seizing control of Commons timetable

Still scratching your head about what happened today? Or arriving at this blog from a non-UK timezone and need some catching up?

I’ve written a very basic explainer of what happened today, addressing questions like:

Related: Whips and votes and early polls: what is going on in UK politics?

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Brexit: Pound falls as general election speculation intensifies – live news

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Rolling coverage of the day’s political developments as they happen, including reaction to PM’s threat to remove whip from Tory MPs who vote against him on Brexit

Rumours of a snap general election have sent the pound tumbling on the international currency markets, as investors brace for further political turmoil as the Brexit deadline edges closer.

Sterling has slumped by almost a cent against the US dollar and sold-off sharply against the euro, sliding below $1.21 and €1.10 as election speculation spreads through the City.

Anyone who thinks that an election will solve the UK’s political crisis has not been paying attention over the past three years.

The pound today. pic.twitter.com/Kdw2MwSTtK

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Johnson could sacrifice majority by withdrawing whip from rebel MPs

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Rebel Tories face deselection over Brexit, as PM abruptly cancels meeting with group including ex-ministers

Boris Johnson is prepared to blow up his own parliamentary majority and withdraw the whip from dozens of Conservative MPs if they back plans to stop no-deal Brexit, Tory whips have warned potential rebels, in an extreme move by Downing Street that would pave the way for an imminent general election.

As hostilities escalated, Johnson also signalled how serious his intention is to follow through the threat of deselection by abruptly ripping up plans for a meeting with rebellious former ministers, including Philip Hammond and David Gauke, that had been billed as a last-ditch effort to limit support for the action in parliament.

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Gove portrait ‘visible from space’ drawn on beach in Brexit protest

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Led By Donkeys group reminds minister of his statement that no one voted for no-deal Brexit

A portrait of Michael Gove so large it can “be seen from space” has been drawn on the sand on the North Yorkshire coast to condemn his stance on Brexit.

The anti-Brexit campaign group Led By Donkeys travelled to Redcar to install the drawing measuring 7,500 sq metres, which features a quote from the cabinet minister in which he said the UK “didn’t vote to leave without a deal” in the 2016 EU referendum.

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U-turn over plan to end freedom of movement on 31 October

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Legal experts warned against Priti Patel’s decision to change law immediately after Brexit deadline

The government has been forced to scrap plans for a law that would end freedom of movement at midnight on 31 October in a no-deal scenario, according to reports.

In a shift of policy, the home secretary, Priti Patel, had planned secondary legislation to stop freedom of movement for EU citizens into the UK, but has been forced to accept that the move could have landed the government in court.

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From Bodmin to Berlin, crowds vent their fury at Boris Johnson’s ‘coup’

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Protesters ranged from students at the prime minister’s old Oxford college to retired teachers, children and activists

In Cambridge’s Market Square, a crowd of families, young people and silver-haired academics listened as Percy Bysshe Shelley’s The Masque of Anarchy was read out. Many joined in, from memory, making a collective appeal for non-violent resistance: “Rise, like lions after slumber... Ye are many – they are few.” There were moments of more garrulous protest too. During a speech criticising Boris Johnson, someone shouted: “Off with his head!”

From Bodmin to Berlin, Bristol to Oxford, tens of thousands of people took to the streets in towns and cities across England, Scotland and Wales on Saturday to vent their fury at Johnson’s plan to suspend parliament. Around 1,200 people attended the rally in Cambridge, where they booed the prime minister and his adviser Dominic Cummings as though they were pantomime villains.

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Javid defends settled status scheme in response to criticism

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Campaigners point to rise in grants for pre-settled status, which has fewer rights

Sajid Javid has responded to concerns raised over thousands of EU citizens in the UK having no legal rights after 31 October , by saying “there shouldn’t be a single person that should be concerned about their status”.

The settled status scheme has been running since March for EU nationals living in the UK to establish their permanent right to live in Britain.

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Thousands protest against Boris Johnson’s parliament shutdown

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Crowds march, wave banners and chant ‘stop the coup’ in cities across UK

Tens of thousands of demonstrators are taking to the streets across Britain and outside the gates of Downing Street in protest against Boris Johnson’s move to suspend parliament.

Crowds brandished banners pledging to “defend democracy”, chanted “stop the coup” and waved EU flags in London in a bid to resist the parliament shutdown.

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Boris Johnson claims: ‘We have a way to get Brexit done’ – live news

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Follow the latest fallout from decision to suspend parliament amid mounting fears about a no-deal Brexit

A hearing at the High Court in London relating to a bid to challenge the suspension of Parliament will take place on Thursday 5 September, a spokesman for the judiciary has confirmed.

The spokesman told PA:

“A hearing into an application for judicial review received from Gina Miller with the Prime Minister as defendant has been fixed for Thursday 5 September 5 2019 at the Divisional Court in Court 4 at the Royal Courts of Justice, with the Lord Chief Justice Lord Burnett presiding.

“The court will first consider the request for the case to be heard and, if it agrees, a full hearing will follow the same day. Further information will be given early next week.”

Here’s a summary of what’s happened so far today:

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Salvini urges far-right supporters to march on Rome after bid to force election backfires

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Interior minister calls for ‘day of mobilisation’ in protest at moves to sideline League

Matteo Salvini has called on his supporters to descend on Rome as Italy moves towards ousting his far-right League from power after his attempt to collapse the Italian government and force snap elections.

Salvini earmarked 19 October for a “peaceful day of Italian pride” against a potential government made up of his former ally, the anti-establishment Five Star Movement (M5S), and the centre-left Democratic party (PD).

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Boris Johnson asks Queen to suspend parliament

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Decision will cut dramatically the time MPs will have to take action to prevent no-deal Brexit

Boris Johnson has confirmed he has asked the Queen for permission to suspend parliament for five weeks from early September.

The prime minister claimed MPs would have “ample time” to debate Brexit, as he wrote to MPs on Wednesday, saying he had spoken to the Queen and asked her to suspend parliament from “the second sitting week in September”.

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Cancelled Javid speech heightens election speculation – live updates

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Rolling coverage of the day’s political developments, including meeting of opposition party leaders called by Jeremy Corbyn

The archbishop of Canterbury, Justin Welby, has responded to an invitation from MPs to chair a “citizens’ forum on Brexit” in which alternatives to a no deal would be discussed.

It’s an unexpected privilege to be asked to chair the proposed Citizens’ Forum on Brexit. In the past such gatherings have opened the way for careful deliberation. I’m open in principle – provided the Forum doesn’t aim to stop or delay Brexit, and has cross-party support. https://t.co/pYLYUDFzwJ

It is an unexpected privilege to be asked to chair this proposed citizens’ forum on Brexit. In the past this kind of gathering has, in many places and in difficult situations, opened the way for careful deliberation if at the right time and genuinely representative.

I am honoured to be approached and would be willing to accept in principle, subject to some conditions which have not yet been met. The main three are first, and indispensably, that the forum should not be a Trojan horse intended to delay or prevent Brexit in any particular form. That power can only be exercised by the government and MPs in parliament. A forum must be open to all possibilities. Second, that it has cross-party support (although its members will not be politicians). Third, the process must have time to be properly organised.

I generally don’t criticise the archbishop but he shouldn’t allow himself to be tempted into what is essentially a very political issue right now. This assembly is designed to destabilise Boris Johnson’s position. As such I hope he will recognise the deeply political nature of this.

Jeremy Corbyn was not at today’s meeting of opposition leaders at Church House – the shadow chancellor said he was busy in meetings – but the Labour leader has spoken to broadcast media this afternoon.

"The priority is to prevent a no-deal exit from the European Union" - Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn outlines strategy to block no-deal #Brexit https://t.co/6nPyoPsXrS pic.twitter.com/dzCtD0Ao4o

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Boris Johnson refuses to rule out forcing through no-deal Brexit

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PM repeatedly declines to rule out proroguing parliament if MPs try to thwart his Brexit policy

Boris Johnson has repeatedly refused to rule out proroguing parliament to try to push through his Brexit policy.

Pressed repeatedly at a press conference at the end of the G7 summit about what he would do if MPs tried to thwart his policy, the British prime minister declined to rule out shutting down parliament.

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Britain can easily cope with no-deal Brexit, claims Boris Johnson

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PM said EU leaders would be blamed for their ‘obduracy’ and that UK could keep much of £39bn settlement

Britain could “easily cope” with a no-deal Brexit, which would be the fault of EU leaders’ “obduracy”, Boris Johnson claimed at the summit of G7 countries in France, as he continued to resist mounting pressure to spell out his own plans for breaking the deadlock.

“I think we can get through this, this is a great, great country, the UK, we can easily cope with a no-deal scenario,” Johnson insisted in Biarritz, as he made his debut on the international stage as prime minister with a series of bilateral meetings with world leaders including Donald Trump, the EU council president, Donald Tusk, and the Indian prime minister, Narendra Modi.

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Nearly 900,000 asylum seekers living in limbo in EU, figures show

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Backlog of claims persists despite number of arrivals almost halving in two years

Close to 900,000 asylum seekers in the EU are waiting to have their claims processed, according to figures from the European statistics office.

Women, men and unaccompanied children are living for years in uncertainty, with numbers of pending applications for international protection almost unchanged from two years ago when 1.1 million migrants were “stuck” in the continent.

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