Boris Johnson news: Brexiteers' bid to force no-deal suffers legal blow, as constitutional expert warns UK 'heading for deep trouble'
John Bercow vows to stop prime minister suspending parliament as political crisis continues
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Your support makes all the difference.Britain is in “deep trouble” unless Boris Johnson and Jeremy Corbyn can act like “good chaps” and find a way to resolve the Brexit crisis, a leading constitutional expert has warned.
In a boost for pro-EU campaigners, a Court of Session judge has ruled that a legal challenge seeking to prevent Mr Johnson from suspending parliament to force through a no-deal exit will be heard before 31 October.
It comes as No 10 is said to be ready to pull British diplomats out of Brussels. Donald Trump’s national security adviser John Bolton, meanwhile, said the UK was “first in line” for a trade deal with the US after meeting the PM.
Meanwhile John Bercow, the House of Commons speaker, has warned that he will try to stop the prime minister from suspending parliament.
Mr Bercow told an audience at the Edinburgh Fringe festival that he "strongly" believes the House of Commons "must have its way", in remarks reported by the Herald newspaper.
"And if there is an attempt to circumvent, to bypass or - God forbid - to close down Parliament, that is anathema to me," he said.
"I will fight with every breath in my body to stop that happening."
Amber Rudd also told the BBC on Tuesday that she would urge the prime minister not to suspend the Commons.
If you would like to see how the day's events unfolded, please see what was our live coverage below:
Our associate editor Sean O’Grady is worried about the new ComRes poll that appears to show a majority in favour of delivering Brexit “by all means possible”.
The managing director of Harrods Michael Ward has been talking about preparation for a no-deal Brexit.
“I wouldn't say I would ever be relaxed about this,” he said. “We’ve got one of the biggest and momentous decisions that the UK’s ever taken.
“Nobody has got any idea how goods will move in and out of this country and I always work on the principle it's never going to be fluid.
“So we've prepared, we’ve got a warehouse full of product that is ready for us to balance our supply chain as we go through Brexit, but I don't think it's going to be easy.”
Eggs and pork from animals raised in cruel “battery”-style conditions in the US could flood into Britain after a no-deal Brexit, the RSPCA is warning.
Deregulation of farming after the UK quits the EU – which the National Farmers Union has called for – could result in “a terrifying reality” for animal welfare, the charity’s head of public affairs has warned.
David Bowles said the issue would be not only about imports of chlorine-washed chicken and dairy products from cows given growth hormones.
The US still uses conventional battery cages in most states, and uses sow stalls in most pig production – both systems that were considered so cruel they have been banned in the EU because they cause “severe welfare problems”.
Minette Batters, NFU president, has suggested the only way to compete with an influx of cheaper meat products is deregulation.
A huge demonstration demanding a fresh Brexit referendum will be staged less than two weeks before the date when Boris Johnson is threatening a crash-out departure from the EU.
Hundreds of thousands of people will descend on London on Saturday 19 October, for the fourth march organised jointly by The Independent’s Final Say campaign and the People’s Vote organisation.
The ‘Let Us Be Heard’ event is a week later than originally announced – to avoid clashing with an annual fundraising event to raise money for Great Ormond Street Hospital.
Tory MP Damian Hinds has fuelled speculation a general election is being planned for this year, after he accidentally shared an email partly titled “GE2019 team thoughts” on Instagram.
The new Ukip leader Richard Braine has said the authorities should “look into” whether Muslims should be banned from handing out copies of the Koran in public.
Braine said “there’s no question that some people who commit violence are motivated by the scripture”.
“We need to look into whether it’s illegal to do so because we do have laws against incitement to violence, so we should look into that,” the Ukip leader told Sky News.
“I understand there’s something like a 100-year threshold where, if a work is more than 100 years old, it isn’t subject to incitement laws.”
“But I think that’s worth looking at because there’s no question that some people who commit violence are motivated by the scripture.”
Boris Johnson looks very happy to be visiting a Victorian inner-city jail after announcing a £100m investment package to boost security in prisons.
The PM has been walking around HMP Leeds, a category B local prison in Armley – which was one of the country’s most overcrowded when it was inspected two years ago.
Johnson has vowed to cease the flow of drugs, weapons and phones flooding into prisons.
Boris Johnson on tour of HMP Leeds
A Labour councillor has resigned from the party and joined the Lib Dems, citing her “vehement” opposition to Scottish independence as a reason for the move.
Fiona Dryburgh, who sits on South Lanarkshire Council, also cited Labour’s “weak” stance on Brexit and a “failure to address antisemitism” as factors in her decision to quit.
Dryburgh becomes the second councillor from South Lanarkshire Council to have quit their party to join the Lib Dems in the space of three weeks.
Last week, shadow chancellor John McDonnell said Labour would not seek to block a second Scottish independence referendum from being held.
In her resignation letter, Dryburgh wrote: “I have destroyed my membership card and cancelled my direct debit. Please pass the details of my resignation to the party headquarters.
“I would like to make it absolutely clear that I have no issues with any member of the Labour Group or the Constituency Labour Party.
“I am leaving as a direct consequence of both the direction in which the Labour Party is moving and the recent events that have occurred within the party.”
Tory councillor Mark McGeever quit his party over the leadership of Boris Johnson, calling him Minister “totally unsuitable for high office”.
Boris Johnson has been condemned for making the “self-damaging gesture” of pulling British diplomats out of Brussels meetings ahead 31 October.
Ashley Cowburn has more.
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