MPS have blocked an attempt by the UK Government to force a three-day Commons recess to allow all Conservative MPs to attend the party’s autumn conference.
In a fresh blow for Boris Johnson, they voted by 306 to 289 to ensure the House will continue to sit as normal next week when the annual Tory gathering in Manchester takes place. The vote marks the seventh straight defeat for the Prime Minister since coming into office just two months ago.
Westminster usually goes into recess during the three-week party conference season, but the timetable was thrown into chaos by the prorogation crisis. It meant that the Commons was not sitting when the LibDems and Labour were having their get-togethers.
However, this week’s Supreme Court ruling that the suspension was unlawful saw MPs return to Westminster on Wednesday.
Behind-the-scenes talks between the Tories and Labour designed to allow the Conservative conference to be unaffected by the move fell through. When asked about allowing the Tories’ proposal Jeremy Corbyn told the BBC: “I don’t see why Boris Johnson and his team should be able to run away from accountability yet again.”
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Tory chairman James Cleverly said the party conference would go ahead as planned. “It may well be that we MPs will have to do a bit of juggling, but the bottom line is conference is really, really important,” he said.
“It’s an opportunity for the newest activists through to councillors, police and crime commissioners, mayors, MPs and others to all get together at the same time.
“I and everybody else will have to adapt to circumstances in Westminster, but the priority is to make sure that we get time to interact with our wider membership.”
Naomi Smith, chief executive of the anti-Brexit Best for Britain campaign, said: “Boris Johnson has lost yet another Commons vote. He truly is a record-breaking PM for all the wrong reasons.
“He and his government are treating this process as a game when in reality lives are at stake. Our elected Parliament must be allowed to sit during this time of crisis.
She added: “His language yesterday brought shame on the office of Prime Minister.
“Instead of trying to get more time off, he should apologise for his actions.”
Meanwhile, speculation is mounting that Johnson will try again to prorogue Parliament within days.
The PM has said he wants to end this parliamentary session so that his government can set out its domestic legislative agenda in a Queen’s Speech. But the move could lead to a new legal challenge by campaigners who won their case against his attempt to shut down Parliament earlier this month.
The Supreme Court ruled earlier this week that Johnson’s original five-week prorogation was unlawful and was an attempt to frustrate Parliament. Delivering the ruling, Lady Hale emphasised in that the case was “not about when and on what terms” the UK left the EU – it was about the decision to suspend Parliament.
She added: “The decision to advise Her Majesty to prorogue Parliament was unlawful because it had the effect of frustrating or preventing the ability of Parliament to carry out its constitutional functions without reasonable justification.”
Lady Hale said the unanimous decision of the 11 justices meant Parliament had effectively not been prorogued, therefore, the decision was null and of no effect.
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