House of Commons could sit at weekend in bid to get round Parliament shutdown
2 min read
Rebel MPs are hatching plans to force Parliament to sit over next weekend in a last-ditch bid to block a no-deal Brexit.
Opposition parties have joined forces with rebel Tories to explore the possibility of keeping the chamber open on 6 and 7 September in a bid to pass the 'EU Extension Bill'.
The draft legislation would effectively make it illegal for Boris Johnson to take the UK out of the EU without a deal.
Efforts to avoid a no-deal departure have been stepped up since the Prime Minister asked the Queen to suspend Parliament from the middle of next month until 14 October - barely two weeks before Brexit day.
The Commons has sat on a Saturday just four times since 1939, and only once on a Sunday since 1900.
According to HuffPost, the main obstacle seen by MPs engineering the bid will be the prospect of Brexiteer peers filibustering the anti-no-deal bill in the Lords.
Former Tory MP Nick Boles told the site he would support moves to keep Parliament open for as much time as possible.
He added: “It’s also important that the Lords also sits as that’s where we are more likely to run out of time.”
One way being looked at for MPs to seize control of the Commons timetable is a ‘weekend sittings motion’ with backing from Speaker John Bercow next Tuesday, when the House returns from its summer recess.
The Times also reported that rebel MPs were considering taking "total control" of the Commons order paper next Wednesday to push through anti-no-deal legislation, which could block Boris Johnson's first Prime Minister's Questions and Sajid Javid's planned Spending Review announcement later that day.
But a Downing Street source dismissed the plan.
They said: “The moves by Dominic Grieve and Jeremy Corbyn to cancel the referendum result through legislation are anti-democratic.
“The PM has been clear we will be leaving on October 31st, no ifs, no buts. It is perverse that some MPs would attempt these parliamentary shenanigans just as we are actually seeing progress to deliver Brexit.”
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