THE QUEEN has approved Prime Minister Boris Johnson's request to suspend Parliament mere weeks before the Brexit deadline on October 31.
Johnson announced Wednesday morning that he planned to ask the Queen's permission to suspend Parliament for up to a month, and this afternoon, it's been confirmed that Her Majesty has given the notion the green-light.
Many consider the move by Johnson to be one that will prevent MPs from being able to discuss legislation which would prevent a no-deal.
The Prime Minister insists though, that this isn't the case, citing the length of the current 340-day Parliament session as his reason for requesting the suspension.
In a statement released at 3pm this afternoon, the Privy Council said: "It is this day ordered by Her Majesty in Council that the parliament be prorogued on a day no earlier than Monday the 9th day of September and no later than Thursday the 12th day of September 2019 to Monday the 14th day of October 2019."
What this means is that Parliament will be empty for up to a month, and will reconvene on the October 14, just two weeks shy of when the UK is due to leave the EU.
In Ireland, there are reports that Taoiseach Leo Varadkar is demanding emergency Brexit meetings in order to smooth over the process as best they can amidst the Queen's announcement.
Many have spoken out against Johnson's decision to suspend parliamentary proceedings, with some describing the move as 'democratic' and even 'a declaration of war'.
Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn said: "Suspending Parliament is not acceptable, it is not on. What the prime minister is doing is a smash and grab on our democracy to force through a no deal."
He added that when MPs return to the House next week, "the first thing we'll do is attempt legislation to prevent what [the Prime Minister] is doing", followed by a vote of no confidence "at some point".
Speaker John Bercow, who traditionally stays out of issues such as this, said: "However it is dressed up, it is blindingly obvious that the purpose of [suspending Parliament] now would be to stop [MPs] debating Brexit and performing its duty in shaping a course for the country."
Scottish National Party (SNP) leader Nicola Sturgeon stated that Johnson was "acting like a tin-pot dictator" and that the move was "not democracy".
