Court rejects emergency halt to Westminster suspension

An attempt to halt the suspension of the Westminster parliament has been temporarily rejected by a court in Edinburgh.

The Court of Session ruled against an emergency motion for an interdict, which would have brought a temporary halt to Boris Johnson's plan to prorogue the UK Parliament, submitted by a group of MPs.

However, the judge who made the decision, Lord Doherty, said that he would like the date of the planned court case brought forward so that the fuller arguments could be heard.

The MPs mounting the legal challenge are also demanding that Prime Minister Boris Johnson sign a legal affidavit explaining his reasons for proroguing parliament and ask that he make himself available for cross-examination in court.

The full case will now be heard on Tuesday 3 September – six days before the House of Commons is due to be suspended.

Speaking on his decision, Lord Doherty said: “I’m not satisfied that it has been demonstrated that there’s a need for an interim suspension or an interim interdict to be granted at this stage.

“I’m going to move the substantive hearing forward to Tuesday. Weighing consideration in the balance, it’s in the interest of justice that it proceeds sooner rather than later.”

The case has been brought by a group made up of 70 MPs from the SNP, Labour, Liberal Democrat, Plaid Cymru, Greens and independents and is being backed by lawyer Jolyon Maugham QC of the Good Law Project.

On Thursday, Lord Doherty heard from lawyers representing the UK Government and the MPs mounting the legal challenge.

The MPs’ lawyer, Aidan O’Neill QC, argued that the advice given to the Queen by the Prime Minister was unlawful, and that the courts should intervene to allow the House of Commons to sit between 10 September and 14 October.

Petitioner Ian Murray, Labour MP for Edinburgh South, said: “This verdict means a full hearing has been fast-tracked to next week, which is now the most important week in modern British history.

“It is disappointing that we have to go to the courts to protect British democracy, but Boris Johnson’s attempt to silence the people’s representatives cannot go unchallenged.

“As well as this legal battle in the Court of Session, the campaign against a no-deal Brexit will also take place in the House of Commons.

“We must work tirelessly, across all parties and none, to fight against the devastation of a no-deal Brexit, fight for our democracy, and fight for the people to have a final say on Brexit.”