MPs have voted by a margin of 41 to approve an amendment intended to block a future government from proroguing parliament. Here’s what we know.
What does the amendment do?
It seeks to make it very difficult for the next government (most likely led by Boris Johnson) to prorogue, or suspend, parliament as a means of blocking MPs from intervening to prevent a no-deal Brexit. Thursday’s amendment, led by Labour’s Hilary Benn and the Conservatives’ Alistair Burt, adds to measures introduced in earlier amendments.
How would it do this?
The process of tacking amendments on to an otherwise technical bill about the long-suspended devolved Northern Ireland government began last week when MPs approved by one vote an amendment tabled by the Tory remainer Dominic Grieve that would require a minister to report to the Commons every two weeks until December on the progress of talks on restoring the Northern Ireland assembly.
Q&AWhat does 'prorogue parliament' mean?
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Prorogation is the official term that marks the end of a parliamentary session. After being advised to do so by the prime minister, the Queen formally prorogues parliament. This takes the form of an announcement in the House of Lords on the Queen’s behalf. It is a speech, written by the government, which usually describes the bills that have been passed during that session and summarises what has been achieved.
It means that all work on existing legislation stops, and MPs and Lords stop sitting. Prorogation also automatically kills any bills, early day motions or questions to ministers going through parliament.
Parliament can then be reopened a few days later with a fresh slate of legislation intentions, set out in a new Queen’s speech at the formal state opening of parliament.
This was beefed up in the Lords with an amendment that would require the reports to be debated in the Commons within five calendar days. The amendment passed on Thursday added that if this could not happen because the Commons was prorogued or adjourned, parliament would have to meet on the day necessary to comply with the obligation and for the following five weekdays.
Does this stop no deal?
Not necessarily. It makes the final gambit of a Johnson government in proroguing parliament – something he has talked down but never ruled out – much more difficult, but a no-deal departure remains the default position on 31 October and will happen unless a new deal with the EU is struck or another option is imposed.
A new concord with Brussels seems very unlikely after Johnson (and his leadership rival, Jeremy Hunt) committed to scrapping the entire Northern Ireland backstop insurance plan, and so for MPs to stop no deal they would need to either impose a deal, force another delay or block Brexit altogether.
The first seems almost impossible and the others are politically very fraught. It very much remains to be seen what will happen.
What does all this mean for Johnson?
Not good news. Johnson’s camp will have been fully aware throughout the leadership process that his many promises on Brexit, spending, tax and other areas were largely theoretical in a Commons with a current working Conservative-DUP majority of four, likely to fall to three after August’s Brecon and Radnorshire byelection.
But the size of the vote to block prorogation will alarm Johnson. While there was not the mooted string of cabinet resignations to back the Benn-Burt amendments – the arguably already semi-detached digital minister, Margot James, did quit – a series of ministerial names did not appear on the voting.
Those understood to have defied the three-line whip to abstain included Philip Hammond, David Gauke, Greg Clark and Rory Stewart. The fact they oppose him will not be news to Johnson but their openness will.
The worry for Johnson is that by the time he takes over, Tory discipline will have almost entirely broken down. The veteran Tory backbencher Keith Simpson said after the vote that it was the first time he had defied the Tory whip in 22 years in parliament. “So this is the first time I have rebelled but you can get a taste for it,” he said.