The news over the past few weeks has been dominated by discussion of the prorogation of parliament. The government has now confirmed that parliament will be prorogued or “suspended” from tonight.
We explain what this means, why some have argued that it’s controversial, and how it could affect what happens in terms of Brexit.
What does proroguing parliament mean?
The act of proroguing parliament brings to an end the current parliamentary “session”. This leads to a short break before a new session begins.
Parliament runs in “sessions” that generally last for around one year, although the length can vary.
A session opens with a “Queen’s speech” where the government sets out the laws it wants to pass over the coming session. Parliament must then approve the speech by voting in favour of it. Parliamentary business which hasn’t been completed by the end of a session is normally brought to an end (meaning it can’t be picked up at the start of the next session).
Is it normal to prorogue parliament?
In a general sense, yes. It’s prorogued every time a session ends.
Additionally, the session that’s now coming to an end, which began after the election in 2017, was set to run for two years, to “give MPs enough time to fully consider the laws required to make Britain ready for Brexit”. That is only the second time since 1945 that parliament has been asked to sit for a session lasting two years.
So in that sense this parliamentary session was close to its proposed ending point.
Boris Johnson has argued that starting a new parliamentary session and Queen’s speech gives his new government a chance to bring forward its own “legislative agenda”.
So why has Mr Johnson’s decision proved so controversial?
Timing is everything. In “normal times” you would expect a new government to prorogue parliament and table a new Queen’s speech, according to Maddy Thimont Jack at the Institute for Government.
But in this case there are only a short number of parliamentary days left until we are set to leave the EU, and some MPs had expected to use that time to scrutinise or amend the new government’s Brexit policy, which includes an intention to leave the EU on 31 October “come what may”—meaning an increased likelihood of a no deal Brexit. The decision to prorogue parliament significantly reduces the time available to MPs to try and pass laws amending the government’s Brexit plans.
Some argue the decision to prorogue parliament prevents it from properly scrutinising the government.
The Institute for Government writes: “Parliament has not been prorogued by a government as a means of circumventing parliamentary opposition to government policy since 1948”.
So far, legal challenges to prevent parliament being prorogued have been rejected by the courts, and an appeal against those rulings is scheduled at the Supreme Court on 17 September.
What does this mean for Brexit?
Laws can only be made in parliament on days where it is “sitting”. This is not every day. For example parliament is now set to break for conference season from mid-September to early October.
If parliament had not been prorogued, on a normal timetable there would have been roughly 22 parliamentary sitting days (Mondays to Thursdays) between 3 September and 31 October (the date we’re set to leave the EU) . This number could have been increased by five days if parliament sat during the Liberal Democrat party conference, and by another six if it sat on Fridays too (MPs would have to propose and vote in favour of these things).
With parliament set to be prorogued on 9 September, it means that MPs will have sat for four days so far, and all existing legislative debates will now come to an end.
In that time, MPs passed a bill which compels the Prime Minister to ask the EU to extend the date of Brexit, it parliament has not voted in favour of a no deal Brexit, or for a withdrawal agreement, by 19 October.
Following the break for conferences, parliament would then return on 14 October for a Queen’s speech. By the time that speech had been debated, it’s anticipated that parliament would have six sitting days before the current Brexit deadline of 31 October.
This time could be used by the government to try and pass a withdrawal agreement. If no agreement is passed then, under the terms of the legislation just passed by parliament, the date we leave the EU will be pushed back unless the EU refuses to agree to an extension.
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