Boris Johnson asks Queen to suspend UK Parliament ahead of Brexit

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Protesters against Brexit and the governments request to prorogue Parliaments gather on College Green in London, England.

Protesters gathered outside the UK Parliament on Wednesday afternoon after Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced his request to the Queen for Parliament to be suspended. 

A large number of protesters stormed the media pen outside the Parliament around 6 p.m. local time. The area had been cordoned off to members of the public by the police.

Police officers on the ground told CNN that they estimated between1,000 and 1,500 protesters were in the area. The Metropolitan Police press office declined to give an estimate of the number of protesters. 

“We have an appropriate policing plan in place,” a spokesperson for the Met police told CNN.

A group later moved to the gates of Downing Street, blocking off Parliament Square on their way. Protesters were heard shouting, “Boris is a liar” and “Bring him down.”

The town of Romford sits just East of central London — technically it’s part of the greater London area, but vastly different when it comes to politics.

Unlike London, Romford’s borough voted overwhelmingly — nearly 70 percent — in favor of leaving the European Union in the 2016 referendum.  

So for the Brexiteers shopping at the famous market that sprawls out in front of the historic St Edward’s Church, the move to suspend parliament is a fine one — as long as it helps get Brexit done. 

Many weren’t quite sure what suspending parliament the way Prime Minister Boris Johnson has called for actually means: But they do understand that it may be part of a wider goal to finally push Brexit through, a daring move they recognize may be one of few options left.

 Here’s how three residents reacted to the news:

Boris Johnson’s decision has sparked outrage because it makes a no-deal Brexit more likely. Experts have been warning that scenario would have major implications, because the UK’s membership in the European Union touches on almost every aspect of the country’s economy.

Here are some potential problems:

EU membership allows British businesses to trade freely across the bloc, without the need to have extra permits or pay tariffs.

If the UK crashes out without a deal, that link will be severed abruptly and businesses will face extra costs. Business lobby groups say these could be too much for some companies, which may not survive. If companies start collapsing, jobs will disappear and the economy will suffer.

A no-deal Brexit would likely mean new checks at the borders, which could delay imports. For some products border delays could prove catastrophic – fresh fruit and other foodstuffs could rot while stuck in lorry queues.

Medical supplies coming from Europe could be affected too, because of extra red tape. French drugmaker Sanofi and its Swiss rival Novartis said they would stockpile key medicines ahead of Brexit.

No-deal Brexit could cause food shortages.

According to the government’s own assessment published in November, leaving without a deal would result in the UK economy being 7.7% smaller 15 years after Brexit.

The damage would be even greater if net migration from the European Union substantially dropped, the government said.

The UK is a major agricultural exporter and the National Farmers’ Union had warned that a no-deal scenario would be devastating for the sector. Up to 65% of Britain’s agriculture exports go to the EU.

A study by Imperial College in London found that two extra minutes spent checking each vehicle, be it at the ferry port in Dover in southern England, or the Eurotunnel terminal nearby, could translate to jams of up to 29 miles.

Read a full overview of the risks of no-deal Brexit here.

The chaos surrounding Brexit has put the Queen exactly where she doesn’t want to be – at the center of the biggest political crisis in modern British history.

Queen Elizabeth is revered for her ability to remain above politics, barely expressing any personal views, let alone party political ones. She sticks rigidly to the custom of only acting on the advice of ministers, to avoid the monarchy being used as a political football.

Read the full analysis here.

The Queen has found herself in the middle of the Brexit chaos.

European Commission spokesperson Mina Andreeva declined to comment on the UK government’s move to suspend Parliament, telling reporters on Wednesday that this is a matter for the British government to answer.

“We don’t comment on internal political procedures of our member states and we’re also not going to speculate what this means in terms of next steps in the UK’s parliament procedures,” Andreeva said.

“I think this is for the UK to answer,” she added.

The British pound dropped by as much as 1.1% against the dollar on Wednesday, after Boris Johnson had asked the Queen to suspend Parliament.

Sterling slipped to below $1.22 before bouncing back slightly. It was trading 0.7% lower against the dollar by the end of the trading session in London.

The pound has been volatile since the Brexit referendum in June 2016. Investors are worried the UK could crash out of the European Union without a deal, an event that even the Treasury’s own forecasters believe could push the country into recession.

Lawmakers opposing the idea of United Kingdom crashing out of the European Union without a deal are up in arms over Boris Johnson’s decision to suspend Parliament.

That’s because the move will mean they will have less time to attempt to block a no-deal Brexit before the current deadline.

That is the current default scenario: unless Parliament agrees on a different plan, the UK will crash out of the bloc on October 31 without a trade deal to protect its economy.

The move means lawmakers will have less time to block a no-deal Brexit.

Lawmakers have previously tried to find consensus, for example by holding a series of “indicative votes” on Brexit, but no option has gathered the support of a majority.

The Queen has formally approved Boris Johnson’s plan to suspend Parliament.

The clock is ticking on Brexit and Johnson’s decision means there will be even less time for those who oppose hard Brexit to stop the UK from crashing out of the bloc without a deal.

The Queen has approved the order to suspend Parliament, a formal but necessary step of Boris Johnson’s plan.

The Privy Council, a body of senior politicians who act as the Queen’s official advisers, requested Wednesday that the Queen “prorogues,” or suspends, Parliament. The Queen is currently on holiday in Scotland.

According to a statement from the Privy Council, the Queen has approved the suspension of Parliament “no earlier than Monday 9th September and no later than Thursday 12th September” until October 14.

Here is the full statement.

Boris Johnson’s surprise move to suspend Parliament has a fan in the White House.

President Donald Trump has tweeted his praise for the Prime Minister, saying he was “exactly what the UK has been looking for.”

“Love U.K.,” the President tweeted.

Guy Verhofstadt, the former Belgian Prime Minister and poster boy for closer European cooperation, has expressed “solidarity with those fighting for their voices to be heard.”

Verhofstadt is the European Parliament’s Brexit coordinator and leader of the Alliance of Liberals and Democrats for Europe.

He has at times criticized the British government’s handling of Brexit and expressed desire for Brexit to be over and done.

A petition against the suspension of Parliament unless the Brexit deadline is postponed has been gathering tens of thousands of signatures since it was launched on Wednesday.

Under UK law, any petition that gets more than 10,000 signatures requires a response from the government.

If a petition reaches 100,000 signatures, it has to be considered for a debate in Parliament. (It is unclear how this would work given the Parliament might be suspended before it gets the chance to debate a petition against the suspension. Confusing? We hear you.)

The petition had been signed by more than 300,000 people as of 3 p.m. local time.

Rory Stewart, the Conservative lawmaker who became something of an international sensation when he (unsuccessfully) ran against Boris Johnson for the party leadership, said the only solution to Brexit is a compromise.

Jeremy Corbyn, the leader of the Labour Party, said he has written to the Queen to protest against the suspension of Parliament.

He said:

Speaking to reporters on Wednesday, Corbyn said he will attempt to prevent the move and challenge the Prime Minister with a vote of confidence.

What happens when Parliament is suspended? The House of Commons Library has issued useful guidance explaining the basics.

The guidance, which was published in June, has an entire section focused on Brexit and the possibility of using a long suspension of the Parliament as a means to deliver a no-deal Brexit, an option that most MPs don’t agree with. It says:

Politics nerd? Read the full guidance here.

The prospect of Britain crashing chaotically out of the European Union seems increasingly likely as time goes on.

Such a scenario could turn the travel plans of millions of people into a misery of delays, cancellations and bureaucratic nightmares.

Chaotic Brexit could cause long traffic jams at the borders.

Travelers seeking to head in or out of the UK face so many uncertainties that it’s almost impossible to plan effectively to avoid them.

Read what to expect here.

British businesses are struggling to make sense of the events taking place in Westminster.

Companies across the country are desperately waiting for clarity on what will happen after Brexit. Will they be able to continue trading across the European Union? Hire foreign workers from other EU states? Will they face new red tape? And how will regulation change?

Businesses still have no clarity on what will happen after Brexit. Will they be allowed to continue employing EU citizens?

Lobby groups have been asking these questions since the vote to leave the bloc in 2016, but have not been given concrete answers. The urgency is growing – with Brexit just weeks away, companies need to put plans in place.

“Businesses feel like Westminster is playing an endless game of political chess, while their futures and the health of the UK economy hang in the balance,” said Adam Marshall, the director general of the British Chambers of Commerce.

He added:

British opposition politicians (and some from Boris Johnson’s own Conservative Party) are furious about his decision to suspend Parliament.

Scotland First Minister and the leader of the Scottish National Party Nicola Sturgeon said:

Diane Abbott, a prominent Labour Member of the Parliament, called Johnson’s move “a coup.” 

The leader of the Liberal Democrats Jo Swinson said her party will strongly oppose the move.

Another Liberal Democrat, Chuka Umunna said Johnson was “behaving like a tin pot dictator.”

London Mayor Sadiq Khan weighed in by saying the Prime Minister was “running roughshod over our democracy in order to ruin the life chances of future generations.”

The criticism wasn’t limited to those from opposition parties. Some members of Johnson’s Conservatives also spoke up:

Holger Schmieding and Kallum Pickering, two economists at Berenberg Bank, have scrutinized the idea that the suspension of the Parliament could strengthen Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s negotiating position.

The logic behind the idea goes something like this: less time for the UK parliament to stop a no-deal Brexit means the EU will have to take Johnson’s threat of a no-deal Brexit on October 31 more seriously.

As such, the EU could be more willing to ditch the controversial “Irish backstop” clause in order to prevent a no-deal Brexit.

 But Schmieding and Pickering point out three major snags in that logic: