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(1) I wonder if American audiences fully grasp the enormity of what #BorisJohnson has done by asking the Queen to suspend #Parliament. This is way more extreme than if #Trump asked #MitchMcConnell to delay the Senate session to avoid an unpopular vote. cnn.com/europe/live-ne…
(2) To put this #ConstitutionalCrisis in perspective, you have to remember that the #UK's parliamentary supremacy vests far more power in their legislature than we've ever given to ours. Under the American system, the Constitution is supreme. Under the UK system, Parliament is.
(3) Things have gotten trickier in recent years as #Parliament delegated some power to other institutions: regional assemblies in #Scotland and #NorthernIreland, a Supreme Court (Lords use to be the highest court), and made other structural changes. see: talkingpoliticspodcast.com/blog/2019/168-…
(4) These changes created a tension that #BorisJohnson is about to rip open. By getting the Queen to #prorogue #Parliament, he takes away the one legal force that can remove him from office: a vote of no confidence. Even worse, without Parliament's approval, he lacks legitimacy.
(5) Boris was never elected by the general public, he never stood in a national election, he got the majority of a few hundred thousand #ConservativeParty members in a #LeadershipElection, that's it. Without parliament's confidence, he has no right to lead
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2019_Cons…
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2019_Cons…
(6) Even worse, we'll see a potential breakdown in the British constitutional order as Boris comes into direct conflict with not just MPs, but the UK Supreme Court and the growing outrage of those in Scotland and Northern Ireland who call for their regions to leave the UK.
(7) This could also be highly problematic for the monarchy. #QueenElizabeth has largely kept out of the #Brexit fray so far, but she now will have to violate 1 of 2 Constitutional conventions: deference to the PM and Parliamentary supremacy. Either way she'll lose public support.
(8) In short, #BorisJohnson method of getting #Brexit may do more lasting constitutional damage to the #UK than #Brexit itself. Today's decision to #prorogue #Parliament will definitely go down in the history books, I'm just terrified what will be written on the pages that follow
