BOJO BOOST
Some good news for Boris Johnson as court says suspending Parliament was legal
BORIS Johnson got a boost today after Brexit wreckers' bid to stop him shutting down Parliament failed in court.
Lord Doherty ruled that suspension of parliament is "political territory" and courts cannot rule on it.
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And he added: "Accountability for the advice is to Parliament and ultimately the electorate and not to the courts.
"In my opinion, there has been no contravention of the rule of law."
More than 75 campaigners and MPs had challenged Boris' plans to prorogue Parliament from next month.
Last week he revealed plans to shut it down for five weeks so Britain can prepare for a new Queen's Speech.
But Remainers were in uproar, accusing him of destroying democracy.
"Parliament is the master of its own proceedings, it is for Parliament to decide," Lord Doherty said this morning.
Pro-Remainer lawyers who tried to throw a spanner in the works of Boris' plan slammed the news.
Jo Maugham QC said: "The idea that if the PM suspends Parliament the court can't get involved looses some ugly demons.
"It he can do it for 34 days why not 34 weeks, or 34 months? Where does this political power end?
"It's not the law as I understand it."
An appeal is set to be heard later this afternoon.
Earlier this week the court revealed that Boris was planning to shut down Parliament weeks before he told MPs.
No10 documents discussed at the Court of Session claimed Boris plotted with senior officials two weeks before stopping MPs from sitting on August 28.
In a handwritten note on proroguing Parliament, written on August 16, Boris said: “The whole September session is a rigmarole (redacted) introduced to show the public MPs are earning their crust, so I don’t see anything shocking about this decision.”
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The news paves the way for two other separate court cases on Brexit to be thrown out later this week.
The main case - led by Gina Miller, ex-PM Sir John Major, Tom Watson and Lib Dems' Jo Swinson will take place tomorrow.
They will be arguing that the advice Boris gave to the Queen on shutting down Parliament was wrong.
Ms Miller was part of a legal team which forced Theresa May to give MPs a vote on triggering Article 50 and starting the Brexit process in the Commons.
What is prorogation? Boris Johnson’s weapon against remainer MPs
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