British parliament to be prorogued Monday night: Downing Street

Source: Xinhua| 2019-09-09 19:59:09|Editor: huaxia
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Demonstrators gather outside the Houses of Parliament in London, Britain, on Sept. 4, 2019.(Photo by Ray Tang/Xinhua)

The British prime minister is expected to present his bid for a snap election on Oct. 15 to parliament later on Monday for a second time after his proposal was voted down last week by MPs.

LONDON, Sept. 9 (Xinhua) -- The British parliament will be prorogued at the close of business on Monday night until Oct. 14, Downing Street confirmed.

The move came after Prime Minister Boris Johnson requested the Queen to allow such a suspension, from a date this week until Oct. 14.

On Oct. 14, a new parliamentary session will be opened with a Queen's Speech.

Demonstrators gather outside the Houses of Parliament in London, Britain, on Sept. 4, 2019.(Photo by Ray Tang/Xinhua)

Meanwhile, the prime minister's official spokesman also said while the British government would obey the law, Johnson would not be requesting another extension of the latest Brexit deadline of Oct. 31.

The upper and lower houses of parliament have passed a bill designed to block a no-deal Brexit and direct Johnson to request a delayed Brexit from the European Union, a job which the prime minister vowed not to take. The bill is waiting for royal assent before it becomes law.

The bill would compel Johnson to ask the European Union for a three-month Brexit extension if he has not struck a new agreement with the European Union by Oct. 19.

Johnson is expected to present his bid for a snap election on Oct. 15 to parliament for a second time after his proposal was voted down last week by MPs.

British Prime Minister Boris Johnson (C) speaks in the House of Commons in London, Britain, on Sept. 4, 2019. British lawmakers rejected a motion tabled by him calling for a general election on Oct. 15, dealing another blow to the prime minister, who vowed to take his country out of the European Union on Oct. 31 with or without a deal. (Jessica Taylor/UK Parliament/Handout via Xinhua)

Opposition parties said they will not back the vote, meaning no election in mid October as Johnson had hoped.

"The Prime Minister is not going to seek an extension," the spokesman said. "If MPs want to resolve this there is an easy way -- vote for an election today and let the public decide."

However, the prime minister has signalled to cabinet ministers that his government would have to accept a further three-month delay to Brexit if it was forced on him by courts.

The official confirmation came as Johnson was meeting with the Irish prime minister, Leo Varadkar, in Dublin for the first time since he entered Downing Street in July.

The two discussed the issue of backstop, which, a sticking point in the Britain-European Union negotiations on Brexit, aimed at avoiding a hard border on the island of Ireland after Britain's departure from the regional bloc.

In Dublin, Johnson said he believed a deal was still possible by the European Union summit next month, and a no-deal Brexit would be a failure that both the British and Irish governments would be responsible for.

But the Irish leader said there was no such thing as a clean break between Britain and the European Union.

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