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| Chaotic scenes in the Commons as parliament is suspended – as it happened | |
| (about 1 year later) | |
| We’re going to wrap up the blog now. Thank you to all of you absolute troopers who have stuck with us throughout this wild and prorogued night. | |
| We’ll be back tomorrow as we report on the fallout of the crazy scenes we witnessed tonight. Until then! | |
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| ‘An act of executive fiat’: Chaotic scenes as UK parliament suspended – video | |
| Parliament has been suspended until 14 October after a day and night of high drama that ended at about 2am. | |
| There were chaotic scenes as the prorogation formalities began in the early hours of Tuesday. Speaker of the House, John Bercow, expressed his anger at the suspension of proceedings, saying it was “not a normal prorogation. It is not typical. It is not standard. It’s one of the longest for decades and it represents... an act of executive fiat”. | |
| A group of opposition MPs, carrying signs saying “silenced” tried to prevent the Speaker John Bercow from exiting his chair to go to the House of Lords to complete prorogation proceedings. As Conservatives left the chamber with the Speaker to attend the House of Lords, Labour MPs chanted “Shame on you!” at them, while they remained in parliament singing Red Flag, Calon Lân (in Welsh), and Scots Wha Hae. | |
| A thunderous Bercow returned to the House of Commons to confirm the prorogation of parliament, but only a handful of Conservative MPs returned, painting a striking visual of empty government and packed opposition benches. | |
| Earlier in the day, Boris Johnson once again failed in his attempt to force an early general election after opposition MPs abstained and Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn said he would not let his party walk into “traps laid by this prime minister”. This was the sixth parliamentary defeat for the prime minister in a week, more defeats than Thatcher, Major, Blair or Brown had in their entire tenures as PM. | |
| Despite royal assent being given to legislation requiring a delay to Brexit beyond October 31 unless a divorce deal is approved or parliament agrees to leave the EU without one by 19 October , Johnson insisted he would not ask for another Brexit delay. | |
| Speaker John Bercow announced his intention to stand down next month, leading to both tributes and criticism in the House. | |
| MPs voted narrowly to demand the government publish all written and electronic contact connected to prorogation and no-deal Brexit planning. While the government agreed it would share “appropriate information with parliament” but argued the “scope of the information requested disproportionate and unprecedented”. | |
| The Liberal Democrats announced they are set to officially back revoking article 50 in an attempt to position themselves as the most pro-EU political party, effectively severing the chances of an alliance with Labour at a forthcoming general election. | |
| • This summary was amended on 10 September 2019 because Plaid Cymru MPs sang Calon Lân, not Bread of Heaven as an earlier version said. | |
| Updated: Parliamentary defeats for each Prime MinisterThatcher - 4 in 11 yearsMajor - 6 in 7 yearsBlair - 4 in 10 yearsBrown - 3 in 3 yearsCameron - 10 in 6 yearsMay - 33 in 3 yearsJohnson - 6 in one week | |
| More reaction coming in from MPs to the extraordinary night we’ve just witnessed. | |
| They are all furious and disgusted, though the reason for their anger is pretty much split down party lines, with Conservatives MPs appalled at the opposition MPs who tried to stop John Bercow from leaving his seat in parliament, whereas Labour and other opposition MPs are angry at the proroguing of parliament. Both sides claim their opponents actions show them acting against the will of the people. | |
| Tonight we’ve seen the sort of chaos & disgraceful behaviour that Corbyn, SNP & LibDems want for our great nation. They don’t respect parliament, democracy or the people’s vote of 2016. Only Conservatives will leave the EU & restore our sense of national pride @Conservatives | |
| Trying to get my head around witnessing the sight of Labour MPs singing the red flag in the chamber of the House of Commons at 1.30 in the morning ... after refusing to vote for a General Election ... Goodness! | |
| Democracy shut down. Parliament silenced. #shameful pic.twitter.com/yqSB9tI2Sc | |
| It was working people who fought, and I mean fought, for a voice to challenge the elite and today the elite have stolen the people’s voice by shutting down Parliament. So what do we have to do? .... what generations of working communities have had to do. You must be heard. | |
| The end of this moribund and corrupt union is in sight. Parliament shut down, a #PM insisting he will crash out of the #EU on 31st Oct, regardless of the majority will of MPs, enshrined in law & regardless of the awful consequences of a #NoDealBrexit. We can do better #indyref2 pic.twitter.com/0OIf2NQrlM | |
| Doesn’t this feel like a long time ago now? But it was only about four hours ago that there was this heated exchange between Boris Johnson and Jeremy Corbyn about the calling of an election. A sign of just how long and how dramatic they day has been. | |
| The closing down of Parliament by Johnson & the Tories provoked anger in the Commons but also in the final moments of this Parliamentary session a defiant burst of singing of the “Red Flag” by Labour MPs. We will never let this extreme right wing Tory sect silence our democracy. https://t.co/0HLwcUQAdr | |
| Here’s more from Alex Sobel, Labour MP, about what MPs were trying to do during that moment of altercation at the Speaker’s chair during the prorogation proceedings. From what I witnessed, though a few MPs laid hands on John Bercow’s arm and put their bodies between his chair and the floor, no one sat on him. | |
| The action taken by myself and other members to beseech Mr Speaker to not accede to Black Rod’s request echoes the action of members to try and prevent the speaker proroguing at the request of Charles I. Unfortunately we couldn’t pass any motions against Boris Johnson’s policies pic.twitter.com/Xcjf8hD2fh | |
| Conservative MPs have condemned the opposition MPs who were involved in attempting to block the Speaker from leaving the chamber, including Assistant Government Whip Nigel Huddleston and Bob Seely, Conservative MP for the Isle of Wight, who condemned the Speaker for his behaviour today. With Trumpian syntax, Seely wrote: | |
| “Speaker loses plot at the end of parliament. Openly takes sides. Insults colleagues. Very sad.” | |
| Astonishing scenes. Words fail me! pic.twitter.com/2NcfKpV0Xz | |
| Speaker loses plot at the end of Parliament. Openly takes sides. Very sad. Fear he has lost respect from many. I hope he has not damaged impartiality that survived generations. Pathetic stunt from Labour too. We need a General Election. | |
| Here’s some video of Scottish and Welsh MPs singing in the House as they waited for John Bercow to return from the House of Lords, where the prorogation formalities were taking place. | |
| While Conservative MPs left the House to go with Bercow and witness the suspension of parliament, opposition MPs remained in the Commons in protest at the prorogation. They filled their time with singing and from the feedback of MPs on Twitter, it appears the Welsh MPs, singing Bread of Heaven in Welsh, complete with harmonies, was judged the best of the bunch. | |
| The Welsh members also gave us a beautiful song. With harmony! 🏴 pic.twitter.com/iXV8xeuDoX | |
| And now we’re singing - Scots Wha Hae from @theSNP benches👇 pic.twitter.com/sRjFFgrpEP | |
| Parliament has now prorogued (been suspended) and the House of Commons will next sit for the State Opening of Parliament on 14 October 2019. | |
| Opposition MPs tried to physically stop the Speaker from going to Lords to prorogue parliament | |
| In case you missed it before, there were extraordinary scenes in the House after Black Rod came to address the Speaker, in which opposition MPs tried to physically stop the Speaker from leaving his chair to go out to the House of Lords to finish the prorogation formalities. | |
| Labour MP Rachael Maskell who was part of the group trying to stop Bercow’s exit from the chamber posted this photograph of the moment as she reassured her followers: “Tonight I did everything I could to stop the Parliament being prorogued.” | |
| Greens MP Caroline Lucas said the move was “echoing the action of members to try to prevent the Speaker proroguing at the request of Charles I”. | |
| Tonight I did everything I could to stop the Parliament being prorogued. I presented York’s petition via a Point of Order, and then tried to stop the Speaker going to the Lords. pic.twitter.com/RV1WgZkjRB | |
| Joining action with fellow opposition MPs to beseech Mr Speaker not to accede to Black Rod’s request to suspend parliament, echoing the action of members to try to prevent the Speaker proroguing at the request of Charles I. #Silenced https://t.co/AaWBDCbb3j | |
| Democracy - Westminster style! pic.twitter.com/OGvs5CAwsW | |
| Richard Wheeler, PA’s parliamentary editor, calls tonight “arguably the most surreal time I’ve spent in the Commons chamber in six-and-a-half years” as Labour and opposition MPs remained in the chamber as the Speaker and Conservative MPs left to go to the House of Lords to watch the ceremony required for prorogation. | |
| Opposition MPs, holding up signs saying “silenced”, who chanted “Shame on you!” as Conservative MPs left the chamber, started singing – Red Flag, Jerusalem, Flower of Scotland and Bread of Heaven. | |
| Bread of Heaven now comes from Welsh Labour | |
| Now singing in the chamber as we wait for return of the Speaker. Much as I would love to boast of the Scots’ talents, the Welsh contingent have really proved their choral qualities tonight. | |
| Parliament has been suspended until 14 October. | Parliament has been suspended until 14 October. |
| Jeremy Corbyn is now shaking hands with John Bercow and Labour MPs are queued up to shake Bercow’s hand. The Speaker is taking his time with each handshake, giving Ian Blackford a big pat of the back and a rub of the arm. Bercow now hugging John McDonell. This might take a while. | Jeremy Corbyn is now shaking hands with John Bercow and Labour MPs are queued up to shake Bercow’s hand. The Speaker is taking his time with each handshake, giving Ian Blackford a big pat of the back and a rub of the arm. Bercow now hugging John McDonell. This might take a while. |
| The camera has just panned back and we can see nine Conservative MPs. | The camera has just panned back and we can see nine Conservative MPs. |
| The Conservative benches are almost empty, whereas the Labour benches are packed with MPs holding up signs saying “silenced”. These are quite extraordinary scenes. | The Conservative benches are almost empty, whereas the Labour benches are packed with MPs holding up signs saying “silenced”. These are quite extraordinary scenes. |