LAST UPDATE | 31 Aug 2019
PROTESTERS wielding pro-democracy placards and EU flags rallied today in dozens of British cities against Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s decision to suspend parliament weeks before Brexit.
In the biggest demonstration, thousands of whistle-blowing, drum-banging people gathered outside the gates of Downing Street in London chanting “Boris Johnson shame on you!”
“I’m absolutely disgusted by what’s happening here,” said attendee Maya Dunn, 66, a Dutch citizen living in Britain, who accused Johnson of “riding roughshod over everybody”.
“You just can’t trust him,” she said.
In London, participants heard speeches from opposition politicians on a stage erected on Whitehall before marching through Westminster. Some held hand-written signs reading “defend democracy: resist the parliament shutdown” and “wake up UK! Or welcome to Germany 1933″.
Organisers using the slogan #StopTheCoup claimed as many as 100,000 people had turned out in London.
Crowds gathered in cities all over Britain, from Exeter in the southwest and Oxford in central England, to Manchester, York and Newcastle.
They also rallied in Glasgow and Edinburgh in Scotland and in Belfast.
“Nobody voted for a dictatorship,” said Bridie Walton, 55, in Exeter, who added Brexit had prompted her to demonstrate for the first time in her life.
“These are the actions of a man who is afraid his arguments will not stand scrutiny.”
‘Plenty of time’
Earlier today, Chanceller of the Exchequer Sajid Javid has said he supports Johnson’s move.
Speaking to BBC Radio 4, Javid said there will still be “plenty of time for debate” when parliament sits again.
“It’s right, because we are focusing on the people’s priorities, we’ve already made a number of announcements and I think there’s been a really good start,” he said.
“But to really focus, just like every other new prime minister, this prime minister wants to set out his plans and his agenda and it is perfectly normal to do that with a Queen’s speech.”
Javid said when parliament does come back, there will be three weeks to debate issues, “including, of course, I hope by then that we’ve got a deal from the EU and if we have we can put that to parliament”.
He said if a deal cannot be agreed then parliament will debate how to get the country through a no-deal situation.
Johnson warns MPs
Johnson has promised to lead Britain out of the EU on 31 October with or without an agreement with Brussels.
He has said he is ready to strike a deal as long as provisions for Britain to stay in the customs union even after Brexit are cut from an existing deal struck by his predecessor Theresa May.
However, EU leaders have said they are still awaiting concrete proposals from London.
Johnson’s Brexit adviser David Frost is expected to return to Brussels for talks next week.
Opposition MPs and some lawmakers from Johnson’s own Conservatives want him to delay Brexit beyond 31 October if he fails to strike an agreement with the EU.
The UK government, meanwhile, is ramping up preparations in case of no-deal.
Johnson yesterday cautioned MPs against trying to hamper his plans, saying a decision to delay Brexit again would do “lasting damage” to public trust in politics.
He said the opposition’s efforts could in fact help lead to a no-deal Brexit as EU counterparts would be less likely to offer a compromise if they believed Brexit could be stopped.
Back in Ireland, Tánaiste Simon Coveney has called on the British government to recommend viable alternatives to the backstop to the EU’s chief Brexit negotiator as quickly as possible.
Coveney met with British foreign secretary Dominic Raab yesterday morning.
A spokesman for the Tánaiste said that he reiterated Ireland’s position on the withdrawal agreement and said the red lines agreed between the EU and UK were not negotiable.
He also urged the British government to bring forward any viable alternatives to the backstop, which achieve the same goal of no hard border or related infrastructure on the island of Ireland, to EU chief negotiator Michel Barnier as quickly as possible.
1.6 million signatures
Queen Elizabeth II gave her approval to Johnson’s decision to suspend parliament for several weeks on Wednesday. This instantly sparked widespread outrage, legal challenges and promises of resistance from parliamentarians.
The move was widely seen as a way of limiting the time Johnson’s opponents have to organise against him.
The main opposition Labour Party has said it is also considering a no-confidence vote in Johnson’s Conservative government, which commands a fragile 320 to 319 majority.
An online petition calling for the government to reverse its suspension has garnered 1.6 million signatures.
In the courts, a Scottish judge is expected to hear a legal challenge against the suspension on Tuesday. This is the same day MPs return from their summer break for their shortened parliamentary session.
There will be a separate court hearing on Thursday for another challenge that is being supported by John Major, a former Conservative prime minister and staunch opponent of Brexit.
With reporting by Stephen McDermott, Michelle Hennessy and - © AFP 2019
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