I don’t know what any of this means, but I feel a lot of sympathy for all of our British Celebitches. I’m sorry about Boris Johnson. I’m sorry that Brexit is such a multi-year catastrophe. I’m sorry that UK politics are as screwed up as American politics. And most of all, I’m sorry that Vladimir Putin is sitting in a darkened lair somewhere, smiling with glee at how “the West” continues to shoot itself in the foot, over and over again. So, what’s happening? Boris Johnson has apparently asked the Queen to suspend Parliament for, like, a month?
The government has asked the Queen to suspend Parliament just days after MPs return to work in September – and only a few weeks before the Brexit deadline. Boris Johnson said a Queen’s Speech would take place after the suspension, on 14 October, to outline his “very exciting agenda”. But it means the time MPs have to pass laws to stop a no-deal Brexit on 31 October would be cut.
House of Commons Speaker John Bercow said it was a “constitutional outrage”. The speaker, who does not traditionally comment on political announcements, continued: “However it is dressed up, it is blindingly obvious that the purpose of [suspending Parliament] now would be to stop [MPs] debating Brexit and performing its duty in shaping a course for the country.” It would be “an offence against the democratic process and the rights of Parliamentarians as the people’s elected representatives”, he added.
Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn said he was “appalled at the recklessness of Johnson’s government, which talks about sovereignty and yet is seeking to suspend Parliament to avoid scrutiny of its plans for a reckless no-deal Brexit”. He added: “This is an outrage and a threat to our democracy.”
The PM, though, said suggestions the suspension was motivated by a desire to force through a no deal were “completely untrue”. He said he did not want to wait until after Brexit “before getting on with our plans to take this country forward”, and insisted there would still be “ample time” for MPs to debate the UK’s departure.
“We need new legislation. We’ve got to be bringing forward new and important bills and that’s why we are going to have a Queen’s Speech,” he added.
On one side, this is obviously a naked power grab and an attempt to shut down criticism and debate about Boris Johnson’s Brexit plans and all of his political agenda. On the other side… like, haven’t all of the MPs debated Brexit enough? Is there still new stuff to say? Isn’t it going to be a sh-tshow no matter what, and it’s just a matter of degrees? Isn’t that the Brexit realpolitik? I don’t know, clearly, what is even happening. Obviously, shutting down the government and stifling speech will never be the best options. And the Queen is in the middle of it, and all Her Maj wanted to do was spend the summer trying to shield her favorite son from the Jeffrey Epstein revelations.
This feels like the constitutional crisis we’ve been expecting: PM saying he has to suspend parliament, Speaker replying it’ll happen over his dead body. The Queen is now in the hideous position of being the rope in tug of war between PM and MPs, between executive and legislature pic.twitter.com/l6yMkJtbio
— Robert Peston (@Peston) August 28, 2019
Photos courtesy of Backgrid, Getty.
God save the Queen from this lunatic!
The Queen and this lunatic are very much cut from the same cloth. They only cape for themselves and their own and that’s it. I wish people wouldn’t whitewash the Queen into some twee fairytale heroine, because she very much isn’t.
Completely agree @A. I find it frustrating tbh that the queen is seen as this frail biddy to be protected from big bad Boris. Yes he’s awful but so is she and every member of the BRF.
I agree. You only have to look at her protection of her rapist son.
And I very much doubt she’ll do anything to impede Boris.
Exactly. If she was a good person she certainly wouldn’t be protecting her pedo son. She’s as bad as the rest of them.
Well, she just granted this motion: Parliament will be suspended. Aside from reducing and hobbling the PMs to debate, what will this mean for the population?
very well said @A!
If anything the Queen has more class… Bozzer is s common and ‘new money’ as Trump. Child of rich parents, power hungry. He even assisted a friend by helping him find the address of a journalist that he wanted beaten up and threatened into silence.
The Queen is a constitutional figurehead and has to do what she’s told by the PM or she will be removed. Not a fan of the royals, but at least they are not allowed any control.
Boris Johnson is extremely dangerous. Never forget the sorry tale of Nazanin Zaghari rotting in an Iranian jail because of his blunders. Or the hundreds millions of taxpayer pounds
missing because of his dodgy vanity building projects made as mayor of London. At least in the US it is common knowledge that Trump is a fool. Boris Johnson is highly intelligent and calculating masquerading as a fool and that is truly terrifying because no-one knows what he’s thinking or what his next move will be.
@TheOG
The Parliament will not be able to sit until October 14th and at that point we are 100% sure no-deal Brexit will happen.
The population has two choices:
1) to stockpile food/medicines, bracing for the chaos
2) to leave UK
The ones who cannot stockpile or leave… well you perfectly get what will happen to them.
We already have 1.6 million people using foodbanks (out of 65 million residents), the numbers will go up until it is unsustainable.
Wut?
She is equally guilty of these shambles as much as he is.
When QEII hands power to that lunatic the monarchy is finished.
Whether she either stands up to that moron or she does not, either way she will be out of a job.
Johnson is putting an end to democracy and monarchy at the same time. And he knows this.
You mean that awful person who has given consent to the suspension of Parliament 5 minutes ago?
Seriously. I expected her to give consent but I’m still gobsmacked.
what a sh*tshow.
I know. How can people still not see it. She’s just as complicit.
She IS complicit in many many ways!
Just remembering earlier this year when this site thought “No Deal Brexit” meant “No Brexit” and was positing that the Queen would stop Brexit by doing this. Mildly amusing to remember.
This is an American gossip site. There are pro-Brexit people who think no deal Brexit is to remain in EU and that is quite worse lol
Hahaaaha this made me laugh a lot. I missed that!!
I am telling you all: he and The Don are related!!! The crazy look and the crazy talk and how much they look alike.
They look the same and think the same… I think you might be on to something
When I see them side-by-side I feel like we’re trapped in a bad movie. Like, how is this our current reality? It’s like Dumb and Dumber meets Idiocracy.
Seriously. Can we just take a second to acknowledge how f*cking weird it is that we have Twinsie World Leaders who are both batshit crazy?
It’s more than odd for sure.
This was posted in my Twitter feed: check out this pic of Tweedledee and Tweedledum. Seriously on point! lol
file:///var/folders/tf/n0snmh7946jdpg92kn2nttbm0000gn/T/com.apple.iChat/Messages/Transfers/1.jpg
It’s truly surreal. I was talking with my BF the other day about House of Cards, and how inoffensive Frank Underwood seems now.
I know fully well that Frank Underwood killed a journalist who had dirt on him and everything else he’s done. I’d still vote for him over Trump in a heartbeat.
This is like a straight-up episode of The Crown. I’m so sorry Brit friends … we get it 🙁
For him, as a PM that wasn’t elected to do so… I woke up to these news and have just decided to go to the store and get all the ingredients to make Shirley Temple (you’ll know if you watch the Crown) and hope that the Queen tells him to back off and grow some ovaries. Either way I think I’ll need my drinks. I seriously can’t imagine what’s going to happen.
Boris, for better or worse, was properly elected by the Tories. Because May quit but didn’t call for elections the replacement was an internal, party matter. PM’s aren’t directly elected.
Gordy Brown complained about had to be reminded that he hadn’t been elected either when he took over from Blair.
Every time I see a picture of him I initially think he’s the Trump-Beast. Their family trees intersect somewhere, I’d bet on it.
Can’t wait to hear 45 chime in on this. I’m sure he supports it fully because it is a blueprint for what he’d like to achieve here in the US come election time. The only difference between Boris Johnson and Donald Trump (how I hate even typing that name) is that the bumbling idiot persona is carefully cultivated by Boris and 45 really IS a moron – but they both pander to the racists in the crowd by constantly hearkening back to the “good old days”.
As an Irish Celebitch this terrifies me, as it is will directly impact my country who had nothing to do with this shit show. We all know why he is doing this and it’s bad, horrible.
The lack of respect, regard or even basic thought for Ireland that the Tories and quite frankly anyone who voted to leave, have shown for Ireland, the Good Friday Agreement and the impact a hard border will have is …..sickening.
It harks back to the day when good old Blighty thought we were an annoyance to be squashed, a bunch of uneducated paddys in the fields eating potatoes (don’t even get me started on Britains role in the famine). The dismissive tone, the brushing off the significance and importance of the GFA and why it MUST be untouched.
They simply don’t care, or want to.
I am sick.
Yes. The people to feel sorry for are not the Brits who have inflicted this on themselves, but on the people of Northern Ireland who DID NOT vote for this, and who will be most negatively impacted by the outcome.
also feel sorry for the people who voted against this, not all Brits want this mess.
Feel sorry for us Brits – not all of us want this.
In Northern Ireland the vote was 349,442 votes to leave and 440,707 votes to remain. So a lot of people there did vote for it too tbh. The margins everywhere (other than in Scotland) were pretty slim, so there are a whole lot of people who don’t deserve the brickbats.
Complete results (copy paste from Electoral Commission/BBC):
ENGLAND
Leave 53.4%
15,188,406 VOTES
Remain 46.6%
13,266,996 VOTES
NORTHERN IRELAND
Leave 44.2%
349,442 VOTES
Remain 55.8%
440,707 VOTES
SCOTLAND
Leave 38.0%
1,018,322 VOTES
Remain 62.0%
1,661,191 VOTES
WALES
Leave 52.5%
854,572 VOTES
Remain 47.5%
772,347 VOTES
OVERALL
Leave 17,410,742
Remain 16,141,241
I’d only lack sympathy for the ones who voted leave. I have many friends in the UK, all of which voted to remain and they are as sick about all this as the rest of us.
Come on. Let’s not do this. I feel sympathy for every Brit who never wanted this to happen and were steadfast Remainers from the very beginning.
Those of us who voted for Clinton empathize with y’all so much.
Um, Ireland and Northern Ireland are different things.
Plenty of people in Northern Ireland voted for Brexit.
No one in Ireland, a country in the EU, voted for what’s about to happen to them, and it’s going to be a disaster no matter what.
@Lindy79
So sorry and you are damn right, the colonialist attitude, and disrespect, towards Ireland is revolting.
Please know that some of us on the other shore from Ireland are totally terrified of this right wing coup as much as you are.
Also Irish. While terrible, I find it absolutely hilarious that this is the same goon who is describing the Irish backstop as “Un-democratic”.
+1. And I want to again point out that the Backstop was NOT added to be Withdrawal Agreement by the EU, but by the UK. Le sigh…
They’ve been debating but haven’t implemented anything. There is the issue.
He wants to shut it down because he has no Brexit plan, he can’t get a majority vote on a plan if he did, so hide the first month on the job is his only card left.
I know nothing about how the UK government works – can she deny his request? What happens if she does?
unfortunately not- the queen takes ‘advice’ from her prime minister- she is basically told what the current gov is doing and has no say, as per it being a constitutional monarchy.
a legal challenge can be mounted against the advice given by the PM to the queen, if successful the courts would find the advice unlawful, but this is a doubtful outcome given time etc.
Thank you!
In theory no, because Johnson and his clique (led by Reese-Mogg who is a full blown racist Nazi) will head up to Balmoral with the request and she will be obligated to accept.
Johnson and Co. are now basically doing what Hitler did in 1933 (overturn parliament rule).
In 1948 PM Clement Attlee shut down parliament so they could reform the house of lords.
@St Vitus Dance
For how long though? 5 weeks is unprecedented. Plus this is not done to reform parliament…..
This is in reply to incompetent Corbyn’s bit for the PM job, however Corbyn doesn’t have the support to pull it off and he basically gave Johnson and his ilk the perfect excuse to prorogue. Johnson said he’d do it and he has. Corbyn is trying to force a gen election as he and his comrades are deluded in their thinking that they can win – none of the other parties will prop Labour up as they know it will cost them at the polls as thats how unpopular Corbyn really is.
I’m a remainer but we need to make a choice, either we leave on 31st Oct or we hold another vote on Brexit as our gov can’t make up its mind. Parliament has done nothing but block progress. TBH I would welcome another General Election if it meant the opportunity to kick the whole lot out on their ear.
You can tell how extremely frustrated I am.
@Digital Unicorn
I agree with your post but I see a lot of division in UK at the moment, I don’t see how we could move on after a general election resulting in no majority. We would be stuck in another round of politics in order to form a coalition.
What I fear is that Irish and Scots are tired of all this almost all-English-made drama and this period will go down in history like the dissolution of the UK
Can any of our British Celebitches explain what this means? Google is making me more confused.
@Erin tl;dr – Johnson wants to shut down Parliament (prologue Parliament) to avoid the parliament from coming together to make legislation to block no deal so that we can crash out on November 1 (aka: we’d be fucked)
Johnson wants to use no deal to force the European Union to back down from the Irish backstop (the border between Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland).
The thing is, he was in the cabinet when May asked and got the backstop in 2017 because the EU wanted to drop the border in the Irish sea, but the DUP (their minority partners) didn’t want that.
Brexit was campaigned on parliament being sovereign and taking back control, only to make Parliament toothless so that we can crash out and the rich get richer.
Basically, we’re in the midst of a coup.
As an addition to this: Brexit was campaigned on there being an *orderly exit* from the EU. A no-deal Brexit was never part of the deal offered to Leavers. So while you may hear some people arguing that Boris the Moron is just following “the will of the people”…no, just no.
This is awful and if we heard of other countries shutting down Parliament to prevent any democratic debate, we’d absolutely call it a coup, so I completely co-sign the duchess of hazard’s conclusion.
@Amy
Totally agree. Shutting down parliament and making the monarchy irrelevant was what Mussolini did too in the 1930s.
Thanks for explaining all of this, duchess. Still a bit confused but this helps 😉
Thanks for the explanations, although like Kitten I’m still not entirely clear but definitely getting the terrifying gist.
American resister (and Clinton voter) here sending hugs and support across the pond to the UK remainers and Ireland.
Like @Duchess of Hazard said, in short it is a political disguise of a right wing coup.
Us Brits, we either start rioting now or on November 1st chaos will reign supreme all over the country (which is an outcome courted by disaster capitalists).
@Amy and @StarGreek – I really don’t feel glad for this thought to be plausible, tbh, but Johnson has shown himself to be amoral and is all in this for himself. When Brits are crossing the English channel and drowning in the water, or asking EU countries for asylum. I will laugh until I’m butter, BUTTER.
@Duchess of Hazard
I won’t laugh unfortunately because I am a bi-national and if the worst happens I will have to use my 2nd citizenship to extract my hubby from UK. Still we would be destitute as jobs/house cannot be moved.
It will feel like being asylum refugees, you are right.
@StarGreek – same, but unfortunately for me my second citizenship is still third country citizenship. I really wish that I had an Irish passport, honestly. The British passport will be just as bad as any third citzenship, tbh.
You guys, I’m so, so sorry for you. I’ve just found out. This is beyond words. I know it doesn’t help in any way but we’re with you. We really are.
And yes, I also hope you riot. If there was ever a time to take to the streets – this is it. I’m 10 hours away by car (and ferry) – I’ll bring you sandwiches and coffee. Sorry about the gallow’s humor. I have no words, really. This feels even worse than the day after the referendum.
Did anyone catch that show “years and years?” Seems like we’re heading to something like that.
THIS – Johnson and his crew have been plotting and planning for a no deal since they got in power, this is what they have wanted all along. They are not the only ones, the Labour leadership want it as well as they see it as an opportunity to grab power to push after the leave date.
Its a bit like being asked ‘What kind of sh!t sandwich do you want?’, a Tory sh!t sandwich or a Labour sh!t sandwich as both sides pretty much have the same agenda.
As for Cobryn demanding to meet TQ, hahahahaha. He’s so full of it, he’s so desperate to become PM. We should never forget he is a Brexiteer.
@duchess of Hazard
My 2nd citizenship is EU, but the only way out for hubby and I would be Ireland, he doesn’t speak any other language beyond English. Unfortunately he never found a job there despite attempting to find one for 3 years now.
I fear we will all end up escaping in boats when the riots start, I will find you somewhere else on the EU mainland coast (this is in joke but things are gloomy now)
@DU
Yes the Brexit catering company is definitely offering sh!t sandwiches
@StarGeek, for real. I am looking to decamp to Ireland as well. I’ve been transferring money to an old bank account I have on the continent just to have some value to my money.
Hit me up at @nicht_weit on twitter so that we can keep in touch. We remain/refugees will have to stick together.
@duchess of hazard
I don’t have a Twitter account but was thinking to re-open one as it was the main outlet where I felt ‘safe’ to voice my political opinion. I found many like-minded people in there. I have bookmarked your Twitter handle in my list so you will get me as a follower when I do (I usually have a kitty avatar!) .
Yes, us ‘Brefugees’ need to stick together in this chaos 🙂
Parliament suspended? Can their pay be suspended if this happens? BJ just wants to get paid for nothing if you ask me.
It is the current session suspended not actually the Parliament, hence MPs will still be paid.
Right, but don’t they get paid to hold sessions? I just hate these politicians who want to avoid being politicians but still get paid like one.
I don’t think so. There is a minimum of sittings they need to be present at but many MPs are absent during many sittings throughout the year.
This parliament session has lasted a long time already because of Brexit but interrupting it now before October 31st guarantees a no-deal Brexit. This is why Johnson is asking for it.
It is a coup d’état and a subversion of democracy, plain and simple
Johnson’s not concerned with money. He’s got enough of it. He wants power.
Johnson is taking a page from Moscow Mitch–shutting down democratic government so authoritarians can take over. It’s just another outrage brought to you by the slimebags who would rather ally with hostile foreign powers than stay loyal to their countries. Putin is thrilled to have so many traitorous collaborators. I hope they all burn in hell.
Fact is we will all burn in hell before them.
An unelected pm of a minority government wants to shut down parliament. 🤦🏻♀️
Can Queen Elizabeth refuse to shut down parliament? Technically it is her prerogative to shut it down, but are there any repercussions on the monarchy if she does ? Can someone explain please ?
This is what I want to know as well.
Only technically. But apparently, so said by Black Rod (the constitutional figure who brokers between parliament and monarchy in the U.K.) on the bbc news earlier, MPs can bring a further motion asking her to change the position. If it was overwhelmingly supported in the House of Commons, she’d be likely to accede – but this really would be extraordinary and I don’t think has ever happened – although you’d need to research that to check. On the “haven’t all of the MPs debated enough” point, parliament isn’t just a talking shop, but a legislative chamber which takes decisions. Legislation can be passed to require a particular course of action.
@Reine-Didon – yeah, on paper she can’t, but she won’t, because she’s taken the thing of being neutral and also, it will take the smoke off her son’s actions. I will never sing the national anthem again.
Latest News: The queen has agreed to suspend parliament.
WOW SMDH.
This post should have far more comments than any of the other Royal posts, tbh. It lays bare exactly what the monarchy is: illiberal, antidemocratic and a tool of autocracy. It’s fun to look at clothes and babies and speculate about family strife but ultimately these are people who have held onto power and wealth for hundreds of years and will subvert the will of the citizenry whenever it serves their purposes. I’m so sorry for all of the ordinary UK and Irish citizens who will suffer terribly as a result.
I’m updating this page every couple of minutes. This all is horrifying. I do hope this is the end of the BRF.
I’m updating the Guardian, latest:
The former prime minister John Major has said he is seeking legal advice on whether he can challenge Johnson’s decision to prorogue parliament.
In a statement read out on BBC News, Major said: “I have no doubt that the prime minister’s motive in seeking prorogation is to bypass a sovereign parliament that opposes his policy. As events unfold I will continue to seek advice on the legality of this and other matters, but will be making no further comment.”
Right. And that’s why I can’t ever support the idea of a monarchy. Sure I like the some members of the rbf fine, but monarchy is so anti-egalitarian.
Yes, this is scary stuff!
Just a friendly reminder that you’re on an American blog. FFS we can’t even get Americans interested in AMERICAN politics, much less the politics of another country. 🙁
But FWIW, this American is very thankful for this blog and the elucidating commentary. Learning a lot about the UK’s complicated Parliamentary system.
And vice versa for this Brit who has learned a lot about the US system of democracy from the lovely and intelligent ladies on here.
Maybe we should keep the veranda open 24/7!!!
@DU
Yes veranda should be open! My lurking days on here opened my eyes to many issues in USA, political and non-political.
And yet 7 out of 10 of the self-described Happiest Countries in the annual poll are monarchies. Don’t ask me why, because I don’t know.
bread and circuses? or ignorance is bliss?
Or coincidence? List includes Canada, Australia, NZ, Denmark, Sweden, Norway. Life may be relatively good enough in some of those places, the desire to get rid of a monarchy hasn’t come to the forefront yet.
Maybe queenie thinks this will finally move the spotlight from her precious Andrew.
Trade wars, this mess, melting ice caps, rainforests in flames, etc. I’m not religious, but I wouldn’t be surprised if four dudes on horses appeared on the horizon any day now…
Putin, Trump, Johnson, and ?
Bolsonaro of Brazil.
I see him more as an opportunistic flunky like so many others. Evil for certain, but not a global power on his own. He’s getting away with what he’s doing because of the other three, but I don’t think he’s at their power level.
Sooooooo many to choose from; Erdogan, Kim, Xi Jinping….
It would too easy to laugh at the U.K. but sadly this is part of the global trend of nationalism and turning inward and turning on those considered outsiders or too cosmopolitan. Same as with Trump being elected, be careful what you wish for because you just might get it. Bad leadership with a fractured or weak opposition leads to scary times ahead. Hope this isn’t a repeat of the 1930s.
Two years ago, my husband and I toured Stonehenge with a cop-turned-tour guide from Bath. During the tour, he mentioned Trump and said that it was fun to watch (the chaos) from across the water. I wanted to yell out that it was actually hell, but there were Americans unknown to me on the bus. Wanted to avoid chaos on my vacation. I wonder what he thinks about the chaos now in the U.K. Not so much fun, huh.
I feel for all of the Brit Celebitches. We know your pain. It feels a bit worse because we have a chance to get rid of Trump in a year while you will have to go through Brexit – and who knows if that could ever be reversed.
Little ironic when one of the reasons they gave for wanting Brexit was protecting democracy. Their idea of democracy is to shut down parliament when the other side doesn’t agree with them?