Former British prime minister John Major is challenging the right of the current prime minister – and fellow conservative – Boris Johnson to suspend parliament for what is alleged to be purely political motives.
He did so by joining an action by Gina Miller, the businesswoman and anti-Brexit campaigner who took a case to the UK Supreme Court. Ms Cherry won her case in Scotland's highest civil court, which took the exact opposite view of the English High Court. The British Government has appealed that ruling to the Supreme Court, and both cases are being heard together, as they cover essentially the same ground.Alas, he will not be making his own case before the 11 judges in the Supreme Court. His lawyer, Lord Garnier, will make the argument on his behalf. So we won’t get to see one Tory PM lay into another on live TV.
In it, he addressed the question of "legitimate and illegitimate purposes" in a prime minster seeking to suspend parliament. "There is no reason why Parliament must be prorogued in order for the Government to pursue a legislative programme. Even if that were wrong, it would only be necessary to terminate the existing session and commence a new one, and the new session could commence a few days after the old; certainly there is no practical reason why a five-week period might be needed to meet the stated purpose of prorogation.