Thread by @cgwOMT

Courts have also released the Minutes of the Cabinet Call on the Queen's Speech and prorogation:

Contd

Key quotes:

"It was important to emphasise that this decision to prorogue Parliament for a Queen’s Speech was not driven by Brexit considerations: it was about pursuing an exciting and dynamic legislative programme"

"messaging should emphasise that the plan for a Queen’s
Speech was not intended to reduce parliamentary scrutiny or
minimise Parliament’s opportunity to make clear its views on
Brexit."

"it was crucial that parliamentary colleagues understood that the Government was still seeking a deal and that this plan would allow time for the Withdrawal Agreement to be approved by Parliament if a deal was agreed at the European Council on 17/18 October"

"the number of sitting days had not been substantially reduced, because for the majority of the time that Parliament would be prorogued it would ordinarily be Recess for party conferences"

"Although there had been longer periods of prorogation in the past, they were exceptional. Parliament would not normally be prorogued for a longer period than one to two weeks."

"It should be explained why in this case the period was significantly longer. The Government would be attacked for this decision, but it would be manageable"

"it was important that the messaging did not appear to pit the Government against MPs, especially if there was a prospect of an early General Election"

"it was clear there had been a shift in the mood of the EU in response to the Government’s strategy. The Government had had more impact with the EU in the preceding six weeks than in the whole of the previous year"

Finally this!

There were no plans for an early General Election. This would not be right for the British people: they had faced an awful lot of electoral events in recent years. They wanted the Government to deliver Brexit and a strong domestic agenda"