Supreme court appeal today over proroguing of Parliament

I must admit I'm not expecting a lot. The judges will probably decide that it's political and they're not in a position to intervene.

At least it will air some facts and some expert opinions (not that experts are flavour of the month with those who don't want to be confused by facts)

It's expected to last about 3 days.
I agree with you growstuff.

Well let’s hope they do decide it’s political and let the PM get on with delivering what the majority of us voted for.

I turned it on to see what it would be like but now but it is so boring I shall have to turn over. I can't follow it. I also too hope the court decide it is for PM to decide and not courts. As the party political conferences mean parliament would not be in session anyway it all seems blown out of proportion.

There is now talk of further prorogation and nobody will be able to do anything if a precedent has been set.

Let's get something clear - Parliament has only been prorogued for an extra 4 or 5 days as the suspension was due to take place anyway.

Hardly a 'coup' is it?!

It's the precedent which has been set which is the issue.

It is the longest proroguing of Parliament ever and the motives for doing it are not clear. Boris apparently doesn't think he should have to explain himself to the court or send anyone else to do it. He may be PM but like everyone else he has to obey the law.

I am more concerned with the precedent that Jo Swinson wishes to set.....that those in power can just ignore the results of an official referendum. Now that sounds more of a ‘coup’!

Parliament goes into recess for the party conferences. This is a decision made by parliament. They don't have to go into recess and even if they do, they can be recalled at any time. This is completely different from the parliamentary session being ended.

Jo Swinson isn't Prime Minister.

Swinson is not setting any precedent. There is absolutely no reason why the result of an advisory referendum has to be implemented.

The only way she would ever be in a position to revoke Article 50 would be if the people had voted the LibDems into office. The people would have been given that choice.

The prorogation of Parliament was an executive decision by the government. The people weren't given a voice. It sets a very dangerous precedent, especially at such an important time in the country's history.

Chucky as MaizieD points out, the referendum was not legally binding, it was advisory. Even if JS was PM she would not be legally required to proceed with implementing it.

Agree with you grow

I agree with Chucky

I voted in the referendum because we were told by DC who called it that it was a once in a lifetime opportunity. There was no mention as far as I'm aware, that it was purely advisory.

If it was, surely it ceased to be advisory when parliament triggered Article 50.

The House didn't have to go into recess for the party conferences, they could have been cancelled or MPs could have decided not to attend, or attend briefly and return to Westminster, an absolute host of alternatives. For those saying Parliament is only being prorogued for an extra few days, it's why those extra days that is the crux of the matter. Johnson, in my opinion, did it to avoid his minority government being called to account over Brexit. I wonder if you will be so in favour when a future PM, with whom you disagree, enjoys the precedent this will have set?

That's the point janipat. It sets a precedent which could be used by any political party for any reason.

Apparently Johnson has refused to produce a witness statement, explaining his reason for proroguing. Surely if he had a reason which would stand scrutiny, he would have had no difficulty in providing the court with a statement.

It doesn’t bode well for our poor country if Johnson gets away with it.

Imagine Cummings? He will be very dangerous.

As some posters have said, there’s a difference between being prorogued and going into recess. This is the longest prorogation for 400 years. It normally lasts a few days with the rest of the time being recess during which for example, the committees can continue to sit (BJ was due to appear before one), the H of L may sit and as said above, the house could be recalled at any time if necessary. Those of you who agree with BJ proroguing shouldn’t insult the intelligence of those of us who don’t by pretending what he’s done is normal and usual - it’s simply not.

This is all very fast fascinating. These judges seem to be questioning the reason for the length just as the Scottish courts did.

We have a national emergency and Boris is behaving like a dictator and shutting down parliament to stop any debate. On top of this he is not taking the negotiations with the EU seriously and is planning on breaking the law by us just leaving. He is a disgrace.