Boris Johnson has attacked the Supreme Court after it ruled he unlawfully suspended Parliament. This is a dangerous path to tread.
The Prime Minister said in the House of Commons that the “Court was wrong to pronounce on what is essentially a political question.” How wrong he is. The Supreme Court had to rule against the suspension of Parliament so that political life could continue.
Johnson’s comments come hard on the heels of Jacob Rees-Mogg saying that the Supreme Court judgment was a “constitutional coup”. It was actually necessary to stop an attempt by the government to stifle democracy.
When the Prime Minister was invited by Jeremy Corbyn to distance himself from Rees-Mogg’s remark, he ignored the question. He also gave the Labour leader a contradictory answer when asked whether he would follow the new law requiring him to ask the EU for extra time so we don’t crash out on October 31. He said: “We will obey the law and we will come out of the EU on October 31.” How can he do both?
What has happened to the Conservative Party? It used to be the party of law and order. Now it is undermining our judicial system, trying to overturn our constitution and darkly hinting that it will deliberately break the law – all in aid of an ideological project. If Labour was doing this, the Tories would be screaming blue murder, and rightly so.
Whether Johnson will actually refuse to ask the EU to delay Brexit is anybody’s guess. Maybe he doesn’t even know himself. But he certainly can’t be trusted. That’s why MPs must do whatever they can to remove every little bit of wiggle room. I set out five things they can do here.
But there’s one thing the opposition mustn’t do – fall into the trap of giving Johnson an election before Brexit has been delayed. The Prime Minister tried this evening to goad Corbyn into triggering a vote of no confidence in him. This was an extraordinary act of desperation. The Labour leader is wisely letting him twist in the wind.