As of today, the United Kingdom Parliament is suspended. The period of inactivity is scheduled to last for five weeks, with MPs returning back to work on October 14. The prolonged suspension so near the Brexit deadline was widely criticized and members of parliament protested the motion with signs and shouts against the Prime Minister, who orchestrated the whole thing.
Meanwhile, there is still a court inquiry into the legality of Boris Johnson’s act to suspend Parliament, as he may have not followed the official order in which the procedure is supposed to go.
However, last week and yesterday the UK parliament kept busy at work to try and prevent a no-deal Brexit scenario. They officially managed to change the law so that a hard Brexit is no longer the default option for October 31. Now the Prime Minister needs to either get a deal with the EU or get parliament’s permission (via a vote) to take the country out without a deal.
The former option is unlikely, as the EU stated that Johnson has not made any proposals yet and likely won’t be able to come up with a sound plan in the short time remaining. Getting MPs to approve a no-deal is also not plausible, as the majority oppose a hard Brexit. With no other options, Johnson will be forced to ask for a delay to Brexit and then schedule an election.
Boris Johnson and his cabinet have said that they would test the limits of the new law and try to find a loophole. However, if the PM does not follow through, he could go to court. Johnson had hoped that MPs would back a vote for an early election on October 14, but they did not, and since they’re not going to work over the next five weeks, it would be impossible to hold early elections and change the tide.
