Brexit: Polemical Prorogation Jeopardised by Judiciary Prior to Party Conferences

Gosh. What a few weeks it has been. If it weren’t for the fact that the UK is a hair’s breadth from political oblivion, for this political geek, these might be the most exciting times of my life and might potentially justify (or, at least, explain) why I was willing to sit for 6 hours in the House of Lords’ viewing gallery to see the prorogation ceremony with my own eyes at 1.30 in the morning.

So much has happened: MPs cut the legs out from the Prime Minister by voting to force him to seek an extension to the Brexit negotiation process if no agreement has been reached by 18 October; parties continued falling apart with resignations, defection and sackings; the Prime Ministers lost his majority (and, therefore, ability to do anything) in Parliament; a legal challenge to the Boris Johnson’s decision to prorogue parliament is making its way to the highest court in the land; the government proposed a general election bill (twice) and were defeated as opposition parties wanted to ensure the no-deal blocking bill became law, twisting the knife in an already helpless government; operation yellowhammer documents revealed the prospect of food shortages and the potential for riots in the streets and; of course, the actor Mark Ruffalo corrected Boris Johnson’s comparison of the Hulk to Brexit.

Strange times indeed.

This week will see the Supreme Court ruling on whether Boris Johnson’s prorogation of parliament was legal, which could potentially see MPs called back to Westminster to make up for the lost days. They would have been on recess at the moment anyway, but 4 days of Parliamentary time (which includes time for select committee meetings and many other parliamentary functions) need to be made up. Moreover, the political fallout of a Prime Minister giving illegal advice to the Queen will no-doubt provoke a sizeable bout of uproar.

This past weekend also saw the beginning of Party Conference Season, when parties gather in cities across the UK for their annual summits.

The Lib Dems kicked off in Bournemouth, with new leader Jo Swinson making her debut appearance. The Lib Dems have struggled to get bums on seats in the past and, for this reason, they also held one of their party conference days in London last week.

The DMA was present at the London day and interested to hear that data and tech policy are at the heart of their wider economic policy. Many of the proposals mirrored the positive direction of government policy, showing how an understanding of the need for policies that give consumer control over their data and protect vulnerable online users has reached the mainstream political agenda. This is very much good news.

Back in Brexit land, the Lib Dems have also promised to cancel Brexit without holding a second referendum if they get a majority in the next election. This move is a clear attempt to occupy the anti-Brexit ground in a more convincing manner than Labour with the aim of attracting remain voters from the main parties. However, this is a controversial policy that, if enacted, would clearly not do anything to make arguments over Brexit go away.

In saying this, and regardless of any merits of Lib Dem policies, the likelihood of a Liberal Democrat majority, and therefore the likelihood of these proposals becoming policy, are slim to nil. Frankly, the Liberal Democrats could propose free space travel or secondary education for house pets and be safe in the knowledge that they will never be in a position to implement them.

Nonetheless, there is a possibility that the Liberal Democrats could play a role in forming the next government. There is near-certainly going to be an election before Christmas, and if some kind of remain alliance wins enough votes to change the course of Brexit, the Lib Dems will no-doubt play their part.

There’s plenty more on the cards for this week. Keep your eyes on the DMA website for latest developments in article and podcast form. What’s more, over the party conference season, I’ll be on This Week with John Nicolson on talkRADIO every Sunday at around 4.15pm with the latest from each party conference and Brexit. Tune in here, if you can. Catch up on my roundup of the Lib Dems conference here (skip about 20 minutes in to the 1630 tab).

This coming weekend, Labour’s conference begins in Brighton. DMA Managing Director Rachel Aldighieri will be speaking at a fringe event run by the Institute for Government and the Advertising Association on 24 September at 1300. If you’re at Labour conference, do come along. If you are at any of the conferences over the next month, please do get in touch and I would be delighted to catch up over a coffee to chat about the DMA’s lobbying and public affairs work.