,
8 tweets,
2 min read
Read on Twitter
Chatter tonight over whether Boris Johnson and Dominic Cummings cd declare a national emergency by using part 2 (Emergency Powers) of the Civil Contingencies Act 2004 seek to scrap the European Union (Withdrawal) (No6) Act 2019 and thereby avoid having to apply for extension? 🚨
The worry was that can the PM use the powers for 30 days through an order in council and only needs Parliamentary approval to extend them beyond the first 30 days
Spoken to one QC who rejects this. They say that while technically feasible, this would be struck down by courts pretty quickly because they think the courts would judge there is no “emergency”, just a political controversy.
Attorney General Geoffrey Cox wd also be in a pickle having to sign it off when there isn’t a an emergency
More widely such moves might be seen as another trashing of the rule of law;
It wd be accused of being an abuse of civil contingency laws designed for flood/terror attack
More widely such moves might be seen as another trashing of the rule of law;
It wd be accused of being an abuse of civil contingency laws designed for flood/terror attack
To be clear, this is chatter amongst MPs and peers worried No10 might try this - I’ve had no suggestion from No10 they would and haven’t asked them.
Just running thru arguments in case suddenly relevant
Just running thru arguments in case suddenly relevant
This is the legal definition of an emergency 
Another lawyer writes
In the use of civil contingencies act to scupper the opposition brexit delay bill, one academic sounds a note of caution
