Letter to my MP - Prorogation of Parliament

Boris Johnson claims to be trying to negotiate a new Brexit deal which - given the little time available - could only be a minimally amended version of the existing withdrawal package. The European Union (Withdrawal) Act 2018 is still in force, so ratifying such an agreement would require a "meaningful vote" and a Withdrawal Agreement Implementation Bill. Mr Johnson's prorogation allows two weeks for all that, assuming its agreement at the 17-18 October EU Council summit.

Mrs May never dared even to publish the version of that bill which would have applied to the existing withdrawal agreement. Does Mr Johnson really expect to take his version through both houses - after a vote under Section 13 of the 2018 Act - in two weeks?

He argues that the prorogation he secured from the Queen last week is a perfectly normal process, which is transparently untrue. He certainly should present a programme for government, having never given us a manifesto to consider, and he certainly should seek a majority in the Commons. Without that his government has no legitimacy. The conference recess, however, has not been approved by the Commons - as you know - and many MPs were determined to vote against it, so prorogation should be assumed to take a full five weeks of sitting time away.

The claim of "ample time" for debate is also laughable, with the few days before prorogation dominated by a spending statement, and the few days before the EU Council summit devoted to a Queen's speech. With demonstrations taking place around the country today and cases to prevent prorogation scheduled in the courts of England, Scotland and Northern Ireland, it should be obvious that Mr Johnson's tactics are questionable.

I ask you to protest against this brazenly deceitful and undemocratic move and do what you can to change Mr Johnson's mind.