Sir John Major's blast for Boris Johnson: I'll take you to court to stop Parliament shutdown

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Sir John Major made an unprecedented threat today to take Boris Johnson to court to stop him dragging the Queen into a Brexit storm.

The former prime minister said he was prepared to lead an application for judicial review if the next PM attempts to suspend Parliament.

Mr Johnson has repeatedly refused to rule out asking the Queen to prorogue, or suspend, Parliament, a situation that would prevent MPs from voting against him crashing the country out of the European Union on no-deal terms on October 31.

Senior lawyers backed Sir John, who led the Tories to victory at the 1992 general election, saying they believed such a landmark case could be successful.

In a passionate broadside aimed at Mr Johnson on BBC Radio 4’s Today programme, Sir John protested: “You cannot and should not bypass Parliament in this fashion. I cannot imagine how anyone could conceivably think that is right.”

He said it would be “utterly and totally unacceptable” and would thrust the Queen into the centre of a political crisis.

Boris Johnson has refused to rule out asking the Queen to prorogue Parliament
REUTERS

The prorogation of Parliament is the procedure that ends a session of parliament, usually just a few days ahead of the Queen’s Speech opening a fresh session.

Brexiteers have suggested the device could be used to prevent MPs from voting in the crucial run-up to the next deadline for a withdrawal agreement, an idea that Mr Johnson has conspicuously refused to take off the table as a way of beating the cross-party majority of senior MPs who are on standby to vote against a no-deal Brexit.

However, only the Queen can close down Parliament until the next state opening, which means that any prime minister would have to formally advise her to do it.

Sir John said that the Queen would be constitutionally bound to accept such advice and she would be put “in the midst of a constitutional controversy that no serious politician should put the Queen in the middle of”.

While her decision could not be challenged by the courts, Sir John believed the advice given to her by the prime minister could be.

“I for one would be prepared to go and seek judicial review to prevent Parliament being bypassed,” he declared.

In a jibe at Brexiteers who claim leaving the EU would restore the sovereignty of Parliament, Sir John mocked: “They can’t be concerned for the sovereignty of Parliament except when it is inconvenient to Mr Johnson.”

Former Labour lord chancellor Lord Falconer said he believed Sir John was right that the courts would rule against Mr Johnson. “Judicial review would succeed, most lawyers think,” he tweeted, citing an article by Lord Pannick QC.

Mr Johnson defended his refusal to rule out using the device during last night’s TV debate. He said: “I’m not going to take anything off the table, any more than I’m going to take no-deal off the table.

"I think it’s absolutely bizarre at this stage in the negotiations for the UK yet again to be weakening its own position.”

Leadership rival Jeremy Hunt warned: “When that has happened in the past, when Parliament has been shut down against its will, we had a civil war.”

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