Dominic Raab hints parliament could be suspended for a second time
Foreign secretary Dominic Raab has refused to rule out proroguing parliament for a second time.
The Supreme Court, the UK’s highest court, is due to hand down its ruling on two cases lodged against Boris Johnson’s decision to suspend parliament.
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One is an appeal from business woman Gina Miller against the High Court’s earlier judgment that the issue was “political” and therefore a “non-justiciable exercise of prerogative power”, while the other is the government’s appeal against a judgment by Scotland’s Court of Session which found that the prorogation was unlawful and intended to “stymie” parliament.
When asked by the BBC whether the government would recall parliament if the Supreme Court found against it, Raab said: “Of course we will respect whatever the legal ruling is from the Supreme Court… But I think we are getting a little ahead of ourselves.”
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Asked again if Johnson would suspend parliament again, Raab replied: “Let’s wait and see what the first judgement decides and then we will understand the lie of the land.”
He added: “I’m very keen not to get ahead of ourselves on this and very keen not to take levers off the table that weaken the position of the United Kingdom in Brussels.”