Series of Brexit: and now ?

by Elizabeth Piper and Kylie MacLellan

LONDON (Reuters) – british Prime minister Boris Johnson will try again Monday to get a vote in Parliament on the agreement of the output of the european Union concluded last week in Brussels.

The next day a new crazy day in the soap opera of the Brexit, the government has assured on Sunday that the Uk would leave as planned the european Union on 31 October, making the request of Boris Johnson in a new report a formality without any effect on the determination of the First minister to come out of the block. (Full Story)

In total, Johnson, who had said in September that he would prefer to “pop the mouth open” rather than ask for a deferment, was sent late Saturday night three letters to the president of the european Council, Donald Tusk:

1. an unsigned letter on the model built-in with the law Benn – passed at the beginning of September to avoid a “no deal” – which forced the Prime minister to ask the EU a new three-month extension of the schedule, at the end of January 2020, in the event that the Parliament did not approve a withdrawal agreement, or a divorce without agreement on the 19th of October at the latest;

2. a grade of “coverage” of the Uk ambassador to the EU, Tim Barrow, explaining that the government is required by law to request this report;

3. a letter in which Johnson tells the Europeans that a deferral would be a mistake.

What to expect at present of the upcoming episodes of the never-ending soap opera ?

MONDAY: A NEW DEBATE IN THE COMMONS ?

Jacob Rees-Mogg, the minister in charge of Relations with Parliament, said on Saturday that the government was considering re-submitting the agreement of Brexit for a debate and a vote as early as Monday.

But the “speaker” (chairman) of the House of commons, John Bercow, said he would decide Monday on whether to organize the new debate. According to the agenda of the House of Commons, it must determine shortly after the resumption of work of the parliament at 13: 30 GMT.

A number of parliamentarians it had previously recalled that he himself had exhumed under the government of Theresa May, last march, a provision dating back to 1604, and prohibiting the same question or subject twice to a vote during a parliamentary session. (Full Story)

“I was surprised by this case, as others have been,” said Bercow, after the announcement of Rees-Mogg.

“I think about this question, imbibing of what colleagues say and consulting with others, and I will inform the House Monday,” he continued, adding: “The government is not the arbitrator of what is regular.”

MONDAY: HEARING BEFORE THE JUSTICE SCOTTISH

The highest court of justice in Scotland, the Court of Session, must be addressed on Monday on a complaint of which the goal is to force Boris Johnson to comply with the law Benn, under penalty of a fine or even prison, or decide that the famous letter to the president of the european Council, to be sent in his name if the Prime minister refuses to do so.

In documents transmitted in the framework of this procedure, the lawyers of the government have indicated that Johnson will comply with the provisions of the law Benn.

“As the Prime minister or the government should go back on what they have told the court about the intentions of the Prime minister would be detrimental to the fundamental principles of the constitutional process and the mutual trust which is the bedrock of the relationship between justice and the crown”, said judge Paul Cullen.

However, the opposition mps believe that, in sending a number of letters to Brussels, Boris Johnson has already violated this promise. “It could well find itself in a state of contempt of parliament or contempt to the justice because it is trying to the evidence of harm to the first letter (editor’s note, from which London request a postponement of the Brexit)”, commented on Sky News John McDonnell, one of the main leaders of the labour Party.

TUESDAY: THE LEGISLATION ON THE BREXIT ?

Boris Johnson on Saturday said the parliamentarians that his government would submit next week to the legislative acts necessary to leave the EU in the framework of the new agreement on October 31.

It is expected that this parliamentary process begins Tuesday. And the minister of foreign Affairs, Dominic Raab, has said that the government thought to have the number of votes necessary to pass such legislation.

The former minister conservative Amber Rudd, who resigned from the government Johnson by accusing him of wanting to rush to “Brexit” without agreement, said on Sky News that she would vote for it. Similarly, she added, that most of the 21 conservative mps excluded the last month of the Tory party. “He has a fragile coalition, but sincere”, she said.

But this approach would also provide the opportunity to members of parliament, including the opposition, to amend these texts and trying, for the labour Party, for example, to introduce the obligation to hold a referendum of confirmation of this agreement.

Such a provision, there is nothing to say that it would bring together a majority, would be likely to introduce into the debate the possibility to purely and simply cancel the divorce proceedings with the Europeans.

THE RESPONSE OF THE EUROPEAN

The president of the european Council, Donald Tusk, announced late Saturday evening that he would start consultations with the leaders of Twenty-Seven on the question of a new deadline to be granted to the British.

At the end of a meeting of the ambassadors of the 27 member States organized in haste Sunday morning, diplomats indicated that the EU was going to procrastinate. “We want to have more clarity at the end of the week, hoping that by then we will also see how things evolve in London,” said one of them.

“The worst of the Brexit, this is not the no-deal but the uncertainty continues”, was the view Monday morning, the French secretary of State for european Affairs, Amélie de Montchalin, on the air of BFM TV, adding that it still could not exclude “Brexit” on October 31.

OF THE ELECTIONS ?

As the conservative Boris Johnson, who no longer has a majority in the Commons, the labour opposition say they want new elections. But the leader of the Labour party Jeremy Corbyn, refusing to move on this front as long as the risk of “Brexit” without agreement will not be rejected.

“Elections are inevitable because of the arithmetic of the current parliament, because we must break this impasse. The question of the calendar is Jeremy Corbyn ( … ), but it is inevitable that sooner or later, the situation leads to a general election,” said Keir Starmer.

(with Michael Holden; Marine Pennetier and Henri-Pierre André for French service)

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