Thursday 12 September 2019

Did Boris lie to the Queen?

The constitutional crisis in Britain is getting dramatically worse. Did Boris Johnson, Prime Minister of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, lie to Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II when she agreed to prorogue parliament for five weeks. We don't know exactly how the conversation went because it's confidential, but basically the Queen was told that parliament needed to be suspended so that the government could focus all its efforts on drawing up a political agenda to present during the Queen's Speech ceremony on October 14. This is when the poor Queen has to sit in parliament in regal splendour and inform everyone what legislation her government plans to bring forth during the next parliamentary session. But nearly everyone, politician or otherwise, reckoned Boris wanted to prorogue parliament for these vital five weeks in order to get on with getting a Brexit deal without having to tell MPs what it was up to. The Queen surely must have had her own suspicions. But if her prime minster tells her he wants the suspension for other reasons she is obliged to believe him. The Scottish court yesterday concluded that Boris HAD been lying because they ruled that the suspension of parliament was illegal on the grounds that the government wanted to avoid scrutiny over Brexit. The Supreme Court in London will make the final judgment next week. If the Supreme Court judges in their wisdom agree with their Scottish brethren, then Boris's head will be on a plate. He could even be sent to the Tower of London for lying to Her Majesty!! Well, that won't happen of course but such a decision would have huge consequences. For a start, Boris will have to give in and call back MPs so that they can debate whatever has to be debated. The only glimmer of light for Boris is that an English judge in an English court has already decided the suspension of parliament is a matter for politicians, not for the courts. I strongly suspect the Supreme Court, mindful of its weighty responsibilities, will agree with that judgment, although it could be a close call. Either way, the opposition - Labour, Lib Dems, SNP and rebel Tories - will continue to gasp in horror at the mere thought that the prime minister might have actually told the Queen a fib. Relations between the Queen and Boris are going to be distinctly tricky in the future. Will some Royal source approach a newspaper to reveal all? Prince Philip must be seething. "Send that blighter to the Tower, Elizabeth", I can imagine him saying. Boris will continue to deny it, as he has been doing today, and unless that Royal source emerges, the Queen's thoughts will remain buried in secrecy.

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