‘An outrage and threat to our democracy’: Corbyn slams Johnson’s parliament suspension pre-Brexit

Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn said he was “appalled” at Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s request to Britain’s queen for a suspension of parliament in the weeks leading up to the UK’s EU withdrawal.

“If Johnson has confidence in his plans he should put them to the people in a general election or a public vote,” Corbyn said, following Wednesday’s flurry of Brexit developments. The opposition leader added that Johnson was attempting to “avoid scrutiny” of his Brexit plans.

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Corbyn was expected to call for an emergency debate in parliament next week to pave the way for opposition MPs to introduce legislation to prevent a no-deal Brexit, but Johnson’s proroguing request outmaneuvered him. 

For his part, Johnson denies claims that he was wilfully circumventing parliamentary protocol with the request to suspend parliament, though many opposition MPs claim the move is tantamount to staging a coup.

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Corbyn said that when parliament meets again next week, “the first thing we’ll do is attempt legislation to prevent what [Johnson] is doing, and secondly to challenge him in a motion of no confidence.”

He also accused the prime minister of wanting to run "head-long into the arms of Donald Trump."

He has reportedly written to the Queen about Johnson's request to suspend parliament and asked the monarch for a meeting on the issue.