Petition To Stop Boris Johnson Suspending Parliament Reaches 1.5m Signatures

29 August 2019, 08:07 | Updated: 29 August 2019, 20:22

A petition demanding that the government does not prorogue parliament has reached 1.5m signatures.

The 'Do Not Prorogue' petition states: "Parliament must not be prorogued or dissolved unless and until the Article 50 period has been sufficiently extended or the UK's intention to withdraw from the EU has been cancelled."

The petition, created by Mark Johnston, was set up on 5 August but received an influx of signatures after Boris Johnson announced his decision to suspend parliament between early September and 14 October.

This will leave just two weeks between the new session of parliament and the 31 October Brexit deadline.

As it has more than 100,000 signatures, the government must consider whether to debate the petition in parliament.

The decision to suspend parliament has also been met with outrage from MPs, with accusations that Boris Johnson has taken the decision to prevent any legislation that could stop a no-deal Brexit being passed.

MPs have called the plan "undemocratic" and a "constitutional outrage".

House of Commons speaker John Bercow said it is "blindingly obvious" that the purpose of suspending parliament would be to prevent parliamentary debate on Brexit.

But the Prime Minister he argued it was because his government was getting ready to introduce new legislation on education, crime and healthcare and that it is normal for parliament not to sit in the lead up to the Queen's speech.

Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn said he was "appalled" by the "reckless" decision, stating, "this is an outrage and a threat to our democracy."