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Greg Evans
Aug 29, 2019
Yesterday, Boris Johnson sought consent from the Queen to suspend parliament for five weeks, beginning from mid-September, which will effectively prevent MPs from blocking a no-deal Brexit.
The news sent shockwaves around the British establishment and many people accused the current Tory government of 'destroying democracy' in order to push through an unpopular exit route from the European Union.
Previous to yesterday, the idea of proroguing parliament had been something that was only mentioned in passing and wasn't mostly ridiculed as a nonsensical approach to a serious situation that should have been dealt with democratically.
Surprisingly a number of prominent Tory MPs had spoken publicly about opposing such a solution to the problem of Brexit but are now relatively silent on the issue which could threaten British democracy as we know it.
Sajid Javid
Earlier this year, during the Tory leadership campaign, the current Chancellor, Sajid Javid gave an impassioned speech during a live debate on Channel 4 where he outlined his strong opposition to prougation.
Criticising his colleague, Dominic Raab, who was in favour of the move, Javid said that "you don't deliver of democracy by trashing democracy" and that "we are not selecting a dictator, we are selecting a prime minister."
Matt Hancock
In a clip also from the Tory leadership campaign that went viral yesterday, current health secretary Matt Hancock strongly spoke out against suspending parliament.
The speech which occurred in June saw the 40-year-old say:
And then there is this idea from some people, you might have heard them, there is this idea from some people, that to deliver Brexit, we should suspend our parliamentary democracy.Â
That we should prorogue parliament. But that goes against everything that those men who waded onto those beaches fought and died for. And I will not have it.Â
To make matters worse for Hancock he also wrote down how much he believed that suspending parliament undermined British democracy and shared it on Twitter.
Proroguing Parliament undermines parliamentary democracy and risks a general election. I rule it out and call on al… https://t.co/8r2ELyrYqn— Matt Hancock (@Matt Hancock) 1559824114
Nicky Morgan
During an interview with ITV in July, the current secretary for digital, culture, media and sport Nicky Morgan was asked about comments that former prime minister John Major had made, where he suggested that he would be willing to take a suspension of parliament to a judicial review.
In response, the MP for Loughborough cited that both Boris Johnson and Jeremy Hunt were against prorogation and that such a situation would be 'extraordinary' and would lead to a 'constitutional crisis' before praising Major's comments.
This is a reel of utter hypocrisy. Or will @MattHancock @AmberRuddHR @sajidjavid @michaelgove resign in what they d… https://t.co/K6WSqEHUat— Jolyon Rubinstein (@Jolyon Rubinstein) 1567065912
Amber Rudd
Rudd, who made a dramatic return to the cabinet after Johnson was elected as prime minister told Sky News's Sophy Ridge that a prorogue of parliament was "the most extraordinary idea I've ever heard and a "ridiculous suggestion."
The current secretary for work and pensions added that approaching the Queen to obtain that sort of consent shouldn't even be considered.
Amber Rudd - It would be absolutely outrageous for Boris Johnson to #prorogue Parliament... Proroguing parliament i… https://t.co/fp5pdhc4VL— Haggis_UK 🇬🇧 🇪🇺 (@Haggis_UK 🇬🇧 🇪🇺) 1567000671
Jeremy Hunt
Johnson's biggest opponent during the leadership campaign and the man who fought against him right until the end, Jeremy Hunt, told The Economist during the campaign the proroguing parliament would be something that would be 'impossible to ever imagine working.'
The former health secretary said:
I think the idea, in a democracy that, if you don't like what a parliament's doing, you just close down parliament...
The government might have some technical legal powers to allow it to do that but we prorogue parliament when there's a Queen's speech and you suspend parliament for a week, ten days while the Queen's speech is being drawn up and then the Queen turns up to reopen parliament.
But to do it because you wanted to force through a no-deal Brexit seems to be something that would be pretty impossible to imagine ever working.
"Proroguing" is the term wagging tongues again in Britain after the queen approved Boris Johnson's request to suspe… https://t.co/FYoZkTe9Yg— The Economist (@The Economist) 1567009896
Michael Gove
Gove, who next to Johnson, was possibly the most prominent Tory Brexiteer during the 2016 referendum has also opposed the idea of suspending parliament.
During an appearance on the Andrew Marr show he said:
I think it will be wrong for many reasons. I think it would not be true to the best traditions of British democracy.
@PaulBrandITV And here's Michael Gove on Marr "Proroguing parliament in order to try and get no deal through I thi… https://t.co/lndovmCY4V— Daniel Kraemer (@Daniel Kraemer) 1566994697
He also said the same thing during the Channel 4 debate too.
This is a reel of utter hypocrisy. Or will @MattHancock @AmberRuddHR @sajidjavid @michaelgove resign in what they d… https://t.co/K6WSqEHUat— Jolyon Rubinstein (@Jolyon Rubinstein) 1567065912
Boris Johnson
Yes, amazingly even Boris Johnson had previously opposed suspending parliament.
Although he seems to have considerably changed his mind now, Johnson once said during a hustings event, in the midst of the campaign trail, that he would seek such 'archaic devices' to achieve Brexit, which you can see at the end of the clip below.
Michele Gove, Matt Hancock, Amber Rudd, Sajid Javid AND Boris Johnson all declaring their opposition to proroguing… https://t.co/Nq6iUhs8Y2— Jamie Wylie (@Jamie Wylie) 1567016572
If that wasn't staggering enough Johnson also appears to have once penned a letter to Conservative 1 Nation MPs saying that he was no attracted to the prospect of prorogation. The letter was shared online yesterday by Tory MP Antoinette Sandbach.
Just a quick reminder of what Boris Johnson said to Conservative 1 Nation MPs when he was seeking their support… https://t.co/AUQuZkbOiy— Antoinette Sandbach (@Antoinette Sandbach) 1567009636
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