The British pound tumbled Wednesday morning on reports British Prime Minister Boris Johnson and his government would ask Queen Elizabeth II to suspend Parliament when it returns from its summer break next month, the BBC reports.
The pound has reacted negatively as discontinuing the parliamentary session – or “proroguing”, as the official terminology labels it – would leave lawmakers with less time to debate any Brexit-related bills, including a potential revised withdrawal agreement.
However, the pound pared its drop after Johnson insisted on Wednesday that he’s not preparing for a general election, and that there would be “ample time” for MPs to debate any new Brexit-related legislation. GBP/USD was off 0.7% at $1.2203.
Johnson said the Queen’s speech would take place after the suspension ends on Oct. 14.
Dominic Grieve, a critical Tory backbencher, said the decision was “an outrageous act.” Meanwhile, Speaker John Bercow denounced Johnson’s plan as a “constitutional outrage.”
“I have had no contact from the Government, but if the reports that it is seeking to prorogue Parliament are confirmed, the move represents a constitutional outrage,” Bercow said in a statement.
Scottish First Minister Nicola Sturgeon said MPs must find a way to stop the plan next week or “today will go down in history as a dark one indeed for UK democracy.”
Recent polls have shown that Johnson has significant public support to ‘prorogue’ Parliament to stop MPS from thwarting a no-deal Brexit, as we pointed out earlier this month.
Johnson said he would prefer to leave the EU on Oct. 31 with a deal, but that it is “do or die,” that he would be willing to leave without a deal so long as it means leaving on Oct. 31. This has prompted several opposition MPs to come together to try to block a possible ‘no deal’, and on Tuesday a group of lawmakers said they said they would try to use Parliamentary procedure to block a ‘no deal’ exit.
But if Parliament is suspended on Sept. 10, as Johnson is trying to do, lawmakers would only have a few days to get their plans together.
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