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Brexit: Boris Johnson plans emergency Saturday sitting of parliament on 19 October after EU summit - live news Brexit: Boris Johnson plans emergency Saturday sitting of parliament on 19 October after EU summit - live news
(about 4 hours later)
According to the House of Commons website, the Commons has only sat on Saturdays four times since 1939. And this is what Leo Varadkar, the Irish taoiseach (PM), told the Irish parliament about the anonymous briefing from Number 10 criticising him. He said:
Three of those sittings were prompted by way or military conflict: 2 September 1939 (the day before the outbreak of the second world ward); 3 November 1956 (the Suez crisis); and 3 April 1982 (the invasion of the Falklands). To be honest, I don’t want to give much response to anonymous briefings of that nature. I don’t think much of an anonymous briefing whether they come from Downing Street or if they come from my own ranks, quite frankly.
The other took place on 30 July 1949, when the last sitting before the summer recess was on a Saturday. (Anyone know why?) Sammy Wilson, the DUP’s Brexit spokesman, has said that his party would not accept the proposal floated in the Times today (see 11.41am) for a change to the consent mechanism applying to the new version of the Northern Ireland backstop. Under the government’s plans these arrangements would only come into force if the Northern Ireland assembly voted in favour, which in practice would give the DUP a veto. Under an alternative plan reportedly being considered by the EU, the arrangements would apply unless both factions in the assembly - unionists and nationalists - voted to end them.
These are from Chris White, a former Tory special adviser in the chief whip’s office and the leader of the Commons’ office, on the plan for a Saturday sitting of parliament on 19 October. Wilsons said that this proposal was not surprising, but that it had already been rejected by the UK government.
Will be interesting to see what the business will be on this day. Options could be:▫️Meaningful Vote ▫️No confidence motion▫️Emergency legislation (anti no deal MPs)Will require a motion to sit on Saturday 19, which may provide opportunities for MPs to hijack the day. https://t.co/MfcVI9NXid Parliament has been clear that such proposals would never be approved. It is not a serious proposal and should not be treated as such. It is a non-runner.
An addition - possible that Govt could move QS vote to Saturday 19th . Only convention that QS debate lasts 6 days, and could be shortened Whilst the United Kingdom Government has put forward sensible and realistic proposals, it is disappointing that the European Union has retreated to its previous failed plans.
This week has been seen as the effective deadline for a Brexit deal because, in practice, for an agreement to be signed, the framework would have to be in place by the weekend or early next week ahead of the EU summit starting on Thursday 17 October. The crucial decisions at these summits tend to get taken over dinner in the evening, with talks sometimes going on into the early hours. The summit is due to end on Friday. And this morning the BBC is reporting that Boris Johnson is now considering holding an emergency sitting of parliament on Saturday 19 October to allow MPs to decide the next step forward. This proposal not only rewrites but actually turns the Belfast Agreement’s consent mechanism on its head.
Whatever happens, deal or no deal, govt will call MPs to Westminster for a special sitting on Saturday Oct 19th - could be decisive day in Parliament in aftermath of EU summit The United Kingdom must leave the European Union as one country and any decision to enter into regulatory alignment must have the consent of both unionists and nationalists.
On the Today programme Laura Kuenssberg, the BBC’s political editor, said this sitting could be used to allow MPs to approve a deal reached at the summit, in the very unlikely event that the UK and the EU do come to an agreement. Leo Varadkar, the Irish taoiseach (PM) has told the Irish parliament that the British government’s Brexit stance is causing “great difficulty”. He explained:
In the more probable event of there being no deal, Johnson would use the sitting to reveal how he would try to take the UK out of the EU by 31 October, despite the Benn Act, Kuenssberg said. She also said he would use the session to try to force parliament to take a decision, possibly making MPs to choose between no deal and an extension, or no deal and revoking article 50. Part of the difficulty at the moment is the position of the UK government, that Northern Ireland must leave the EU customs union and must be part of the UK customs union no matter what the people of Northern Ireland think.
Downing Street are confirming that this is a plan, although it would be subject to the usual conditions, ie MPs would have to vote for the sitting on the Saturday to go ahead in the first place. That’s their position at the moment and that’s one that is a great difficulty for us because the position of the British government is that the UK must leave the European Union and Northern Ireland must come out of the customs union, whether they like it or not.
There seems to be at least one very obvious flaw in this proposal; parliament has already expressed a view on no deal versus delaying Brexit. It would prefer to delay Brexit, which is why it passed the Benn Act. It is hard to see what Johnson could do to reverse this vote, although doubtless some ingenious ideas are being kicked around in Dominic Cummings office. That creates huge difficulties for us because we want there to be a deal that respects the wishes of the people of Northern Ireland, and indeed the people in this Republic too.
More on this shortly. Here is the Press Association story about the hustings held at Westminster earlier today for the candidates who want to replace John Bercow as Speaker.
Here is the agenda for the day. John Bercow has been described as a “playground bully” by an MP running to replace him as Commons speaker.
9.30am: The Home Office publishes EU settlement scheme figures. Shailesh Vara said he believe Bercow has “tarnished the role of Speaker with his biasness” and said he insults and demeans his colleagues.
10am: Candidates to replace John Bercow as Commons Speaker take part in a press gallery hustings. The candidates are; Sir Henry Bellingham, Chris Bryant, Harriet Harman, Meg Hillier, Sir Lindsay Hoyle, Dame Eleanor Laing, Sir Edward Leigh, Shailesh Vara and Rosie Winterton. The nine MPs who have put themselves forward to replace Bercow as speaker took part in a hustings event in Westminster.
11am: The Scottish court of session is due to deliver its judgment in the appeal against the ruling saying there was no need to issue an order compelling Boris Johnson to comply with the Benn Act. Vara was joined by Sir Henry Bellingham, Chris Bryant, Harriet Harman, Meg Hillier, Sir Lindsay Hoyle, Dame Eleanor Laing, Sir Edward Leigh and Rosie Winterton.
1.35pm: Matt Hancock, the health secretary, speaks at at NHS Providers conference. Candidates were asked about Bercow and impartiality, and Vara said: “No, Speaker Bercow has not been impartial.
2pm: The European parliament hears an update from the European commission and council ahead of next week’s EU summit. “And frankly speaking, I think he’s tarnished the role of the speaker with his biasness.
As usual, I will be covering breaking political news as it happens, as well as bringing you the best reaction, comment and analysis from the web, although I will be focusing mostly on Brexit. I plan to publish a summary when I wrap up. He added: “I would say one other thing that recently we’ve had a lot of debate about the standards of MPs in the Commons.
You can read all the latest Guardian politics articles here. Here is the Politico Europe roundup of this morning’s political news. And here is the PoliticsHome list of today’s top 10 must-reads. “And given that speaker Bercow has at times behaved like a verbal playground bully in the way that he treats his colleagues, he insults them, demeans them.
If you want to follow me or contact me on Twitter, I’m on @AndrewSparrow. “I hope that he loses all authority to lecture to MPs as to how they should behave when his own behaviour is in question.
I try to monitor the comments below the line (BTL) but it is impossible to read them all. If you have a direct question, do include “Andrew” in it somewhere and I’m more likely to find it. I do try to answer questions, and if they are of general interest, I will post the question and reply above the line (ATL), although I can’t promise to do this for everyone. “So I think that the speaker should always be courteous and polite, authoritative, yes, but not demeaning to his colleagues.”
If you want to attract my attention quickly, it is probably better to use Twitter. Bellingham said he thinks Bercow has been a “fantastic” speaker, but added: “The problem with John Bercow is that many of the excellent work he’s done has been impaired by, A, having favourites, I think, in some ways.
“And, B, too often grandstanding remarks that frankly are a waste of space and time.”
Bryant, who wants to be “an umpire, not a player”, said of the Speaker role: “I think having an impartial speaker is absolutely essential to the good functioning of our democracy.”
Harman said the role is to be the “champion of parliament in our parliamentary democracy”, adding: “And that’s not them being neutral or impartial, it’s being absolutely a champion of parliament.”
Leigh said Bercow is “perceived by a large part of the nation not to be impartial” and said the next speaker needs to be “more in the mould” of former speaker Betty Boothroyd.
The election of the next Commons speaker will take place on November 4, after Bercow, who has held the office since 2009, takes the chair for the final time on October 31.
Britain would still have to pay into the EU budget until the end of next year even if it leaves without a deal on 31 October, Gunther Oettinger, the EU budget commissioner, has said. Speaking at a news conference in Brussels he said the UK was fully signed up to the EU budget for 2020 - its final year of EU contributions.
Even if the UK refused to pay up immediately, the EU would recover its money “at a later stage”, he said. He explained:
In the 2020 draft budget, the UK is a full partner with all rights and obligations in terms of monies paid and monies received and that is how we understand the law.
If the British are not prepared to pay, we are sure we will get the money at a later stage but not immediately.
Boris Johnson has often said that, if the UK were to leave the EU without a deal, it would no longer have to pay the £39bn owed under the withdrawal agreement. But even though the exact formula used to decide the UK’s legal obligations in that agreement would no longer be agreed between the two parties, British government officials admit that the UK would still owe a very considerable sum to the EU.
There has been some interesting speculation in the comments about what might happen at the emergency Saturday sitting of parliament planned for 19 October.
Here are two of the more intriguing questions, with my replies.
Could Boris Johnson use the sitting to hold a confidence vote?
Andrew, how about this for a plan to bypass the Benn/Surrender Act:On 19th Oct, Boris states he won't send the requisite letter, and calls an immediate confidence vote. If he wins, Parliament will effectively be approving his actions, thereby effectively cancelling the Benn/Surrender Act. If he loses, he is no longer PM, so isn't bound by the Act. Parliament then has 7 days to agree an alternative PM before a GE is called, during which we legally exit the EU...
Yes, he could.
But even if he won a confidence vote, and argued that that vote effectively overturned the Benn Act (and it is almost impossible to imagine him winning a vote on that basis), the Benn Act would still be law. Until it gets repealed or amended, it still stands.
If he lost the confidence vote, under the Fixed-term Parliaments Act MPs would have 14 days to pass a confidence motion in another administration. If that did not happen, there would be an election - with polling day after 31 October.
But the Benn Act would still stand - and so there would be no guarantee of a no-deal Brexit on 31 October.
And Johnson would also be taking the risk that parliament would choose an alternative PM during that 14-day period. The Sun today is running a story saying some in No 10 think that, even in these circumstances, Johnson could remain in office. But experts are extremely sceptical. These are from Charlie Falconer, the former Labour lord chancellor.
The Lascelles Principles dealt with the circumstances in which the monarch could refuse the PM a dissolution, and have been overtaken by the Fixed Term Parl Act. https://t.co/MLvVe2qPtx
If there is no alternative PM who could command a majority after BJ loses a vote of no confidence then there will be nobody for who HMQ can send to form a govt. But if there is such an alternative, then BJ will have to vacate DS.
Could Johnson resign as PM?
*Andrew*
Nobody seems to be discussing this:
What if the government resigns on the 19th after losing a vote on their election manifesto aka Queen's Speech?
There will be no PM to write to Brussels by the end of the day.
The Queen would call on Corbyn to try and form a government, and I guess Swinson would have to back him - on the condition of an immediate election after he, not Johnson, 'surrenders' to Brussels by asking for the electoral poison of an extension.
Johnson - or the effective unelected PM Cummings - thinks he can then win a 'They Stopped Us' election...
And I fear he may be right.
As for Nodeal, I'd expect Johndon, whose only goal is Power at any price, would then shaft the Nodealers who voted for him by tweaking May's deal and getting it passed.
This is a possibility. People do not normally give up the office of PM voluntarily, but precedent has long since ceased to a reliable guide to what might happen in the Brexit saga.
One option would be to resign as a government, and to invite the Queen to make Jeremy Corbyn, or someone else prime minister, on the assumption that Johnson could then get back into power after an election fought on a “Brexit betrayal” platform. But this would be extraordinary risky. Even a PM without a majority has considerable power at his or her disposal (particularly over spending and patronage), and it is quite possible that Corbyn could negotiate a Brexit outcome more acceptable to the public than Johnson’s.
Another option would be to resign as prime minister on the basis that another Tory willing to request an article 50 extension (Dominic Raab? Michael Gove?) might take over. That way Johnson could keep his promise about not requesting an article 50 extension himself. But presumably he would only do this if he were confident that the replacement PM would stand aside for him again at some point in the future. That might also be a very risky assumption. Once people get appointed PM, they tend to want to stay.
The People’s Vote campaign, which wants a second referendum, says an emergency Saturday sitting on 19 October would give supporters even more of a reason to attend is march in London on the same day. It is put out this statement from the Labour MP Jess Phillips, who backs the campaign. She said:
The 19th of October was already set to be a historic day, with hundreds of thousands of people coming to London to demand that the final decision on Brexit is not made by Boris Johnson but by all of us.
With the news that Boris Johnson is planning an emergency session of parliament on the same day, there could not be a more important moment for everyone who cares about our country and our future to march, and to insist that we are all given the final say.
Michel Barnier, the EU’s chief Brexit negotiator, will be giving MEPs an update on the Brexit talks this afternoon alongside Jean-Claude Juncker, the president of the European commission. Speaking to Sky News this morning, Barnier said he thought a deal would be “very difficult, but possible”.
He confirmed that the technical talks were carrying on and that he would be having a working lunch with Stephen Barclay, the Brexit secretary, tomorrow.
In what seemed a dig at London, and the unattributable briefings hostile to Angela Merkel that were coming out of Downing Street yesterday, he said:
The EU will remain calm, vigilant, respectful - respectful - and constructive.
Asked if a deal was still possible, he replied:
I think the deal is possible and very difficult, but possible.
The leader of Sinn Fein in Northern Ireland has said that reports that the EU would replace a Stormont veto on future Brexit arrangements was a non-starter.
Michelle O’Neill told Sky News that the devolved assembly should not have any role in the final deal whether the voting system allowed for a veto or not.
“Let’s just rule that out. It’s never going to happen,” she said.
She added there was “no situation” in which the local assembly can have the final say. Such decisions on constitutional matters had to be taken by governments, not regional assemblies she said.
Under Boris Johnson’s proposal Stormont would have the final say on this next year and every four years thereafter.
But because of a particular voting mechanism in Stormont designed to ensure no one community can vote for something that would be harmful to another, there was concern that this could hand a de factor veto to the Democratic Unionist party.
According to the Times (paywall), the EU is now suggesting eliminating concerns by creating a new requirement that there would have to be a “double majority” in Stormont - ie both Sinn Fein and the DUP would have to agree to future arrangements.
Sinn Fein’s objection is that such a role for Stormont would plunge Northern Ireland into a unwelcome constitutional crisis every four years. One source said:
The institutions are already fragile and to add this into the mix is unwelcome and will destabilise the institutions further and threaten the Good Friday Agreement. They are just not plausible.
Other parties including the SDLP and the Ulster Unionist party made the same point to Northern Ireland secretary Julian Smith in face-to-face meetings on Friday.
UUP leader Robin Swann said on Friday:
Northern Ireland would be locked into continual political debates about Brexit and alignment with the rest of the UK or EU. They would set the theme of every Assembly and Westminster election.
It plunges Northern Ireland into a referendum in the Assembly Chamber every four years with high stakes consequences for our people. It will keep our businesses and agri-food sector in a perpetual cycle of uncertainty.
An emergency sitting of parliament on Saturday 19 October would coincide with what is expected to be a large People’s Vote rally in London, Anna Soubry, the leader of the Independent Group for Change MPs, points out.
.@bbclaurak reports deal or no deal Parliament will sit on Saturday October 19 for critical votes. That’s also when 100,000’s of us will be in London marching for @peoplesvote_uk #FinalSay Come and join us - a confirmatory referendum is the only way out of the #Brexit crisis