UK Parliament reopens – what next for Brexit?

Parliament was prorogued – shut down – two weeks ago on Tuesday September 10, however the court ruling means MPs are coming back today and UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson has had to cut short a visit to New York.

Speaker John Bercow has said Parliament must meet again as a matter of urgency and it is expected to open at 12.30 French time today, however the usual Wednesday Prime Minister’s Questions session is not to be held as Mr Johnson will only arrive in the UK around lunchtime.

It is not clear however whether he will face questions in the house later in the day.

Speaking at the United Nations yesterday Mr Johnson said that if some MPs had their way Brexit would be an endless process comparable to the punishment of the titan Prometheus in Greek mythology who was chained to a rock and had his liver eaten by an eagle each day only for it to grow back.

He is expected to press for a general election however Opposition MPs do not want to have one until Mr Johnson has asked for an extension to the negotiation period so the UK does not fall out with no deal while the election is organised.

Just before Parliament was prorogued the MPs passed a bill which said that if Parliament has not voted through a Brexit deal by October 19 (one day after a European Council summit of EU leaders on October 17/18) then Mr Johnson must ask for a three month extension. However Mr Johnson has continued to insist the UK must leave at the end of the month.

Opposition MPs are not expected to go for the potential option of a vote of no confidence in the prime minister until an extension has been secured.

Mr Johnson has not ruled out proroguing parliament once again, despite the court ruling yesterday, saying he thinks his reasons for doing it the first time were "very good". He had stated that these were so as to open a new session of Parliament on October 14 with a Queen’s Speech setting out a "very exciting agenda" of new laws, which will not now happen as prorogation, ending the current session, is required for this.

Mr Johnson’s opponents believed the long five-week prorogation was rather so as to remove time from Parliament to debate Brexit and avoid a no-deal.

Commentators think if prorogation happens again it would be just for a few days, not weeks, as it was the long period of closure that the Supreme Court especially took issue with.

Under normal circumstances Parliament would by now in any case have been in recess (suspended) for several weeks at this time of year for the political party conferences, though some MPs had suggested waiving that this year in view of Brexit.

Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn moved his party conference speech to yesterday instead of today so that he may be back in the House of Commons today.

Meanwhile the Conservative Party conference is meant to be held from this Sunday for four days. The government may table a motion asking for a short recess for this.

The European Council summit in October would be the logical point at which any changes to the Brexit deal, or alternatively another extension, could be agreed before the UK risks the no-deal scenario.

The EU says the UK has so far failed to formally put forward any concrete, workable proposals for an alternative to the ‘Northern Irish backstop’ plan in the deal.

October’s summit will also be the last scheduled meeting of the European Council before a new president, Belgian president Charles Michel, is set to take over from Donald Tusk on December 1 (the following scheduled summit is December 12-13).

A new European Commission president, Ursula von der Leyen is also set to replace Jean-Claude Juncker on November 1 (currently one day after Brexit day).

The president of the EU Parliament’s Brexit Steering Group Guy Verhofstadt welcomed yesterday’s court decision, tweeting: “At least one big relief in the Brexit saga: the rule of law in the UK is alive & kicking.

“Parliaments should never be silenced in a real democracy. I never want to hear Boris Johnson or any other Brexiteer say again that the European Union is undemocratic.”

The new European Parliament said last week it was open to another extension of the negotiating period if it is requested by the UK and it has a specific purpose such as avoiding a no-deal, holding a general election or referendum, revoking article 50 (cancelling Brexit) or more time so as to approve the Withdrawal Agreement.

The MEPs said they continue to support “an orderly Brexit” based on the negotiated deal.

In view of the possibility of a UK general election in coming months Britons in France who have been abroad for less than 15 years should check they are registered to vote and that they have expressed their choice of a postal or proxy vote. See https://www.gov.uk/register-to-vote