Brexit latest: Parliament to be prorogued tonight, PM’s spokesman confirms
Parliament will be prorogued today, the Prime Minister’s spokesman has confirmed.
Boris Johnson, who is currently in Dublin meeting with Taoiseach Leo Varadkar, is due to return to Westminster to open the debate this evening, as he seeks parliamentary approval for a general election for the second time in a week.
After this vote, which he is widely expected to lose, parliament will be prorogued at “the close of play” until the Queen’s Speech on 14 October.
But it could be late tonight before parliament is dissolved, possibly into early morning, before the “standard proroguing ceremony” takes place.
The Prime Minister’s official spokesman said: “There is a simple way for MPs to solve this. All they have to do is vote for a general election today, so the people can decide if they want Brexit to get done.
“MPs should face the consequences of their actions and they to do that is by voting to hold an election.”
He insisted the Prime Minister will not seek an extension to Article 50, despite the Benn bill expected to get royal assent today. That bill stipulates that if parliament has approved neither a deal nor a no deal, the Prime Minister must write to European Council President Donald Tusk to secure another postponement in the process.
“Governments obey the law but the PM will not be asking for an extension,” he said.
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