Brexit protests today – LIVE: Protesters demand Boris Johnson 'stop the coup' as thousands march across UK against parliament shutdown
‘Boris Johnson shame on you,’ marchers chant outside Downing Street
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Your support makes all the difference.Thousands of protesters brought central London to a standstill on Saturday, after Boris Johnson announced he planned to suspend parliament next month.
Around 80 rallies were also held in cities and towns across the UK, organised by Another Europe Is Possible, an anti-Brexit campaign group.
Demonstrators marched down Whitehall at midday and gathered outside the gates of Downing Street chanting ”Boris Johnson shame on you”.
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The prime minister announced earlier this week that he planned to suspend parliament for almost five weeks this autumn, in an unprecedented move from Downing Street.
John McDonnell, the shadow chancellor and Diane Abbott, the shadow home secretary, both spoke to the Whitehall crowds from a stage erected near Number 10.
“It is a fight to protect our democracy – we know what Boris Johnson is up to, it is not very subtle is it?” Mr McDonnell said to the gathered protesters.
He added: “Boris Johnson, this is not about Parliament versus the people, this is about you versus the people.”
Jeremy Corbyn, the Labour Party leader, spoke to thousands of protesters demonstrating in Glasgow.
”I’m proud to be here with all of you supporting that, to say to Boris Johnson no way, it’s our parliament,” he said.
“No way do you take us out without a deal – we will stop you and give the people their rights and their say to determine their future.”
“Well think on Boris, it’s not on and we’re not having it.”
Protesters in London blocked traffic on Westminster Bridge as they demonstrated against the suspension.
“If you shut down our Parliament, we shut down your bridge,” they shouted.
Demonstrators also blocked traffic on Waterloo Bridge and near Trafalgar Square.
Organisers estimate that 100,000 people marched in London. At least three people were arrested in the capital, Scotland Yard confirmed.
A further 5,000 people marched in Bristol.
Another Europe is Possible is planning daily protests at 5.30pm, to be held every day for the foreseeable future.
Additional reporting by agencies
"Sajid Javid has sought to distance himself from his own claim that suspending parliament to force through Brexit was "trashing democracy" amid questions over his authority as chancellor," writes The Independent's political correspondent Lizzy Buchan.
"The cabinet minister insisted he was "very comfortable" with Boris Johnson's decision to prorogue parliament ahead of exit day on 31 October - despite comparing it to the work of a "dictator" only two months ago.
"Mr Javid described his relationship with the prime minister as "fantastic" following reports of deepening tensions between No10 and the Treasury, after the abrupt sacking of one of his special advisers by Dominic Cummings, Mr Johnson's top aide."
Matt Hancock, the health secretary, has been heavily criticised this week over Boris Johnson's plan to suspend parliament.
The cabinet minister made an impassioned argument against prorogation earlier this year.
He had said that "A policy on Brexit to prorogue parliament would mean the end of the Conservative Party as a serious party of government."
On Saturday, after days of silence, Mr Hancock said his comments, made during the Tory leadership campaign, were in relation to a plan for a much longer suspension.
He claimed there was a "substantive" difference between that idea and what is actually happening.
"The idea that Parliament is shut down will feel very odd next week when we're all in the House of Commons," he said, speaking at the Big Tent Ideas Festival in east London.
"So it's just not true. It's an exaggeration when you look at the substance."
He added: "When you look at the facts - we've had over 500 hours of parliamentary debate on Brexit.
"It hasn't got us anywhere."
"Sajid Javid confronted Boris Johnson after the prime minister’s top strategist, Dominic Cummings, sacked the chancellor’s media advisor following a confrontation in Downing Street, it has been reported," writes Adam Forrest.
"Sonia Khan, who was a special adviser to former chancellor Philip Hammond and continued in the role under Mr Javid, has now left her position at the Treasury, The Independent understands.
"The prime minister’s right-hand man summoned Ms Khan to No 10 for a short meeting before she was escorted out of the building, according to reports."
Videos circulating on social media appear to show crowds of protesters marching towards Buckingham Palace.
The Queen, who has to give formal consent to suspend parliament, has been plunged into controversy over her role.
Much of the current Brexit stalemate revolves around the backstop and there are fears over the impact of a no-deal Brexit on Northern Ireland.
In Belfast, dozens of protesters stood for hours outside City Hall, chanting "stop the coup!"
The crowd included residents angered that the suspension of parliament comes at a time when the Stormont Assembly has itself been suspended for over two-and-a-half years.
"To lose one government is a misfortune, to lose two looks like carelessness - or a coup," read one protester's placard.
Some protests are smaller but just as mighty as others.
This is the scene in Kirkwall, Orkney, where almost 100 people braved the weather to demonstrate against parliament's suspension.
Around 22,000 people live on Orkney, an archipelago off Scotland's northern coast.
Some drivers are stuck near Trafalgar Square, after protesters blocked the roads nearby.
Irwin Lewis, one of the drivers, said he had been stranded for almost two hours.
The 57-year-old, from Forest Hill, south-east London, said: "It is not a problem. I would not go out demonstrating, but I support what they are doing. Someone has got to protest."
Ben Broster, a black cab driver, said he was losing income as a result of the action, and that it was "frustrating" he had been trapped for more than an hour.
He added: "I am stuck here now, what else are you supposed to do? Whether you support it or not, this is not the way to go about things."
Protesters walk from Trafalgar Square (PA)
Boris Johnson is "floating along his zip wire" towards a "pot of gold" Brexit deal which he may not reach, Tory MP Rory Stewart has said.
Mr Stewart said Conservative colleagues would be reluctant to vote against the prime minister as they want to give him the benefit of the doubt and also because of the "positive things" he is doing domestically.
"The argument then becomes really tough because the prime Mmnister is saying that he's trying to get a deal," Mr Stewart said during a session at the Big Tent Ideas Festival in east London.
"And if you're going to be very, very optimistic, you're going to feel, 'well, OK, he's going to get a deal so there's no point in me voting to stop no deal because he's going to get a deal'.
"And I have to somehow communicate something that's quite difficult - which is this is a very, very high-risk strategy.
"He's floating along his zip wire towards his pot of gold but he may not get to that pot of gold, and if he doesn't he is trapped into saying that he will leave the European Union on 31 October. Do or die. Come what may."
Mr Johnson was famously stuck on a zip wire waving union flags in 2012, while Mayor of London.
Three people have been arrested at the protests in London today, a spokesperson for the Metropolitan Police said.
Sian Berry, the co-leader of the Green Party for England and Wales, said one of the three was Caroline Russell.
Ms Russell is a member of the London Assembly and a Green Party politician.
"Proud of Caroline standing up for democracy. Really no need to arrest her for this," Ms Berry said on Twitter.
"This is an attack on the right to peaceful civil disobedience in a the face of unconstitutional actions by the British government," said Another Europe Is Possible, the campaign group which organised the rallies, in response to Ms Russell's arrest.
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