Boris Johnson proroguing parliament: Normal constitutional procedure or Brexit coup?

Your definitive guide to whether or not you should be outraged at the prime minister suspending parliament ahead of the Brexit deadline

Q Doesn’t this happen every time there’s a Queen’s Speech?

A Yes, parliament is always prorogued – that is, suspended – for a few days before a new session. And sometimes for a few days before it is dissolved in order to hold a general election. But it hasn’t been suspended for as long as five weeks since the 1940s. That is odd, considering the country is in the middle of the Brexit crisis.

Q But for most of the five weeks, parliament wouldn’t have been sitting anyway?

A Normally, that would have been true. The usual practice would have been for parliament to have a break from about 12 September to 7 October to allow MPs to attend the parties’ annual conferences. But this year MPs just happened to be already discussing the possibility of extending the September sitting to allow them to debate Brexit. Now that option has been removed, because the prorogation order overrules anything MPs can decide.

Q We’re overdue a Queen’s Speech, though, aren’t we?

A Absolutely. They usually happen every year, in May, to allow the government to set out the laws it plans to pass. The Conservative and Lib Dem coalition skipped one in 2011 because of the pile-up of legislation waiting to go through parliament, including the Fixed-term Parliaments Bill. Last year, Theresa May cancelled it again, mainly because any bills would have been snarled up in Brexit rebellions. Which means this session of parliament is unusually long. But having waited so long, there was no reason not to wait a little longer until after the Brexit deadline.

Q Will MPs still have enough time to pass legislation to stop a no deal?

A It’s more difficult now. Yvette Cooper managed to pass an act to require Theresa May to seek a Brexit extension in just two days in April, although by then the government had given up trying to stop it. A new bill to try to block a no-deal Brexit might not need much time in the House of Commons, but would also have to be passed by the House of Lords. If the government and Brexiteer peers dug in and tried to obstruct a bill, they might be able to run out the clock.

Q So is this just a cynical response to Tuesday night’s news that opposition leaders wanted to pass legislation to block a no-deal Brexit?

A No, this has been war-gamed by Boris Johnson’s team for some time. But Johnson supporters might say he needs to keep a no-deal Brexit on the table to get a deal from the last-minute EU negotiations – we’ve heard that argument many times before. Despite the prime minister’s optimism in Biarritz that the EU side is moving, there is no sign that it is yielding on the fundamentals. You have to ask whether steely brinksmanship is becoming a reckless game of chicken.

Q Can a vote of no confidence be called?

A Yes, but the numbers are tight because many Conservative rebels draw the line at bringing down their own government. And MPs are not going to vote to bring down Boris Johnson unless there is a rock-solid agreement among opposition parties about who should be a caretaker prime minister afterwards. Otherwise, the vote would risk triggering an election after a 14-day period in which an alternative government could be formed. Crucially, if an alternative prime minister isn’t agreed, Johnson would control the election date – and he could set it for after 31 October, thus ensuring a no-deal Brexit.