British leader Boris Johnson has confirmed he will shut down Parliament on Monday night after a second attempt to force a snap general election.
“Parliament will be prorogued at close of business today,” the prime minister’s spokesman said, using the parliamentary term for the suspension of business.
It starts Monday night, after Johnson tries for the second time to try to force a general election in the hopes of gaining enough support to force through his plans for a no-deal Brexit by Oct. 31.
Lasting until Oct. 14, the suspension, which limits lawmakers’ ability to block Johnson’s plans, will happen regardless of the outcome of his election bid, his spokesman said.
The suspension comes as Johnson insisted to Irish Prime Minister Leo Varadkar that a new Brexit deal could be reached by the Halloween deadline.
The two leaders met in Dublin on Monday, with Johnson saying “alternative arrangements” could also be met on the so-called Irish backstop provision. Johnson wants the bloc to scrap the controversial backstop mechanism that would keep the Ireland-Northern Ireland border open in all circumstances after Brexit.
“The backstop continues to be a critical component of the withdrawal agreement, unless and until an alternative is found,” Varadkar said, standing beside Johnson. “We are open to alternatives. But they must be realistic ones, legally binding and workable. We have received no such proposals to date.”
Opposition to the backstop was one of the key reasons why Parliament rejected former PM Theresa May’s Brexit deal three times earlier this year.
Johnson’s initial announcement of the extended shutdown sparked widespread protests, with critics calling it a “constitutional outrage” as it limits the time lawmakers can oppose his plans for a hasty Brexit.
But it backfired, with Parliament and the House of Lords instead overwhelmingly voting through a bill that banned him from leaving the EU next month without a divorce agreement in place.
That should force Johnson into asking Brussels for an extension to try to reach a deal — but last week the PM said he’d “rather be dead in a ditch” than do so.
With Post wires
