Daniel Finkelstein, Times columnist and Conservative member of the House of Lords, shocked viewers when he made the point to Emily Maitlis on BBC’s Newsnight. Talking about the recent political storm that has ensued around Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s decision to prorogue Parliament, Mr Finkelstein highlighted the hypocrisy of those who called-out the move.
He said: “When Boris Johnson prorogued Parliament, everyone was very against that and saw it as a coup and anti-democratic.
“And then when the Speaker ignores precedent the same people who are annoyed about the proroguing are quite comfortable with the speaker ignoring precedent.
“They may be different but their part of the same category of issues which is the extent to which precedent should or shouldn’t be relaxed in this exigency.
“People take views depending on where they stand on Brexit not where they stand on the process.
“That is a little bit worrying.”
Mr Finkelstein was talking about Speaker John Bercow’s decision to use Commons procedure to facilitate the successful move by pro-Remain MPs to block no deal.
Mr Bercow also openly spoke out against the Prime Minister’s move to suspend Parliament.
His opposition to Brexit led Conservative MPs earlier this week to put a candidate up against him in the next election.
JUST IN How candidate for Speaker wanted to rename Heathrow after Diana
Yet, critics claimed that his real intention was to avoid scrutiny in the run-up to the Brexit deadline on 31 October.
Opposition to the recess went so deep as to spark a court case in Scotland, with judges seeking to decide whether Boris’ act was unlawful.
Yesterday, the court ruled that the Priem Minster’s decision was indeed unlawful.
Downing Street said it was “disappointed” about the result, but that it would continue to suspend Parliament until the already agreed upon date on October 14.
The date lands just days before Boris is set to meet with european leaders at an EU summit, on October 17.
The meeting is intended to finally strike a divorce deal between the two parties – a task that has proven to be easier said than done.
Andrea Leadsom, Secretary of State for Energy, told LBC radio that the Governments most pressing issue was to now focus on the summit.
She said: “We are looking at getting a deal, getting a good deal, that works for the UK and the EU that is different to the one that was negotiated previously.
“Our absolute focus is on getting a good deal on Oct. 17 when the EU Council meets. So we’re looking at creative ways to ensure that there won’t need to be a backstop.”
Mr Johnson plans to get a deal with the EU that will not involve any requirement of an Irish Backstop.
The backstop – the border between Northern Ireland and the Republic – has been central to the Brexit debate, as it could potentially act as an exit door for the EU to worm its way back into the UK; deal or no deal.
Credit: Source link
Discussion about this post