London, July 10: Former United Kingdom (UK) Prime Minister John Major on Wednesday said he was prepared to launch efforts in a court to block any new British PM from proroguing or suspending parliament and dragging the queen into a political crisis to deliver a “no-deal Brexit”.
Former British PM Sir John Major will "seek a judicial review" to prevent the next prime minister suspending Parliament to force through a no-deal Brexit #r4today https://t.co/MyWlMEV8nK pic.twitter.com/0aLl8Ej5H5
— BBC Radio 4 Today (@BBCr4today) July 10, 2019
Member of parliament Boris Johnson, popular to win a Conservative head election and to become the next prime minister of the UK, has reiterated his refusal to rule out the suspension of parliament in order to deliver no-deal Brexit to ensure Britain leaves the European Union (EU) as scheduled on October 31, with or without Brexit deal.
According to Reuters news reports, Major has accused Johnson of sanctimony for introducing early campaigns before the 2016 Brexit vote for the British parliament in order to gain extra power by withdrawing from the bloc.
Former Prime Minister John Major has said he is backing Jeremy Hunt to be Tory leader, saying “I cannot vote for someone who was part of the Brexit campaign that misled the country”. @mattfrei asks: Do you agree with John Major? pic.twitter.com/eLv0cFK6RM
— LBC (@LBC) July 6, 2019
Major told BBC: “In order to close down parliament, the prime minister would have to go to Her Majesty the Queen and ask for her permission to prorogue. If her first minister asks for that permission, it is almost inconceivable that the queen will do anything other than grant it.”
He added, “She is then in the midst of a constitutional controversy that no serious politician should put the queen in the middle of. If that were to happen, there would be a queue of people who would seek judicial review. I for one would be prepared to go and seek judicial review.”
Major said the British parliament had been not suspended since the English Civil War when King Charles I have suspended it.
“The idea of proroguing parliament is utterly and totally unacceptable from any British parliamentarian or Democrat,” Major said.
He said there were risks Britain would not be capable of leaving the EU as scheduled in October, and that Johnson lacked qualities of leadership.
“If you have to choose between what is in the interests of the country and the future or the short-term interests of the Conservative party, I would unhesitatingly choose the interests of the country as a whole,” he said.