Chris

Corbyn didn’t want to immediately call for a No Confidence vote because last week it very quickly became clear he might not win one and even if he did, wouldn’t be able to form an alternative government. That’s why yesterday they all came out of that meeting patting themselves on the back for being all clever and cooperative and agreeing to try to pass a law preventing No Deal. They have to make the best of what’s achievable, and that is some way short of unseating Boris Johnson and his government.

Prorogation basically makes it impossible for them to pass any legislation before 31 October because most of the fortnight between the State Opening of Parliament and Brexit Day will be taken up with the Queen’s Speech debate and other government business. What little time opposition MPs might be able to purloin, will not be enough. There’s no point them commencing any legislation between now and 10 September either, because anything that hasn’t completed passage by the date of prorogation automatically fails.

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Also, just to shore up Boris’ electoral prospects in the event of a no confidence vote, BBC’s Laura K. is saying that the Queen’s Speech will be full of voter friendly promises on the NHS, law and order, etc.

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Indeed. Yet nobody involved in this, on either side, is acting unconstitutionally. They are all proposing to use the processes that already exist in order to get their agenda through. Taking a longer view, Parliament may decide to use its powers to legislate and prevent things happening in this way in future. For the time being, its failure to address these sorts of potential circumstances is just as much an expression of its sovereign will as addressing them would have been.