United Kingdom and Gibraltar European Union membership referendum
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In the beginning a few nice words: "I hope you had a pleasant and productive summer break," writes Boris Johnson to the British MPs - a break "with the possibility for some rest before the lower house gets together again". What the prime minister rather means: the calm before the storm.
On September 3, Westminster MPs gather for the first time since the end of July. And of course it should go immediately to the Brexit. Unless anyone intervenes, the British will leave the EU on 31 October. Not much more time, therefore, to prevent a hard Brexit in the lower house, as the opposition strives for.
But maybe there will not be enough time to get in the way of the government - when Johnson's latest maneuver comes up.
The Tory politician generally uses a "do-nothing" approach: either the EU makes concessions and the Londoners accept such a deal - or there is an unregulated Brexit.
And Johnson is now underpinning this course with a challenge to Parliament: he has asked the Queen, Johnson writes in his two-page letter, to end the current session a few days after the end of the summer break. Only on 14 October, the deputies should then come together again. Will Britain's Prime Minister now turn Parliament off? The most important questions and answers.
What is Johnson up to?
Johnson wants to suspend the parliament. The technical term in the UK for this is prorogation - and initially describes a common procedure. While in Germany alone the respective legislative period dictates the parliamentary rhythm, in the United Kingdom - regardless of the summer breaks - sessions are held, which usually last one year. And in between there are breaks.
Fixed rules do not exist for all this. But usually the queen puts out the parliament at the request of the government in the autumn. After a few days, the monarch opens a new session with a speech in which she presents the government's program for the following months.
Why is that explosive?
The current session is already unusually long - since June 2017. Because of the Brexit turmoil, the government has so far always refrained from prescribing a time-out to parliament. In that sense, Johnson's move is even overdue. Especially since it is absolutely normal for a new government to have the Queen present her future plans.
And yet it is highly explosive that Johnson just now and in this exceptional situation, a few weeks before the Brexit date, wants to take Parliament to leave. The suspicion is close: the deputies should thus be taken the chance to prevent a hard Brexit yet. Because if there are no meetings, the deputies can not start any legislative initiatives.
And: The break, which Johnson now has in mind, would be exceptionally long at about five weeks and for a time without parliamentary elections. For comparison, in 2016, it had only four days of meetings. MEPs would have paused some time in September anyway because of the upcoming party days, but now they would have much less opportunity for debates and decisions in the lower house.
What would be the consequences for the Brexit process?
In fact, it would be hard to imagine how Johnson's opponents should legislate under these conditions, forcing the government to apply for a Brexit postponement in Brussels, if necessary.
At the end of each session, all legal proceedings must be completed. Means: The Proeuropäern remained only the few days until the compulsory break in the second week of September - or they could only be active on 14 October. That's unlikely to be enough, especially since the opposition in the UK is having a hard time getting its own laws up and running. In the Kingdom, the government actually determines the agenda in parliament.
Which reactions are there?
"Outrageous," "undemocratic," "dangerous and irresponsible," "absolutely unacceptable" -the reactions of many MPs to Johnson's push are clear. Anna Soubry, head of the change party, described the situation as the "biggest crisis since the Second World War". The liberal Tom Brake even speaks of a "declaration of war," parliamentary speaker John Bercow of a "constitutional scandal". Clearly, Johnson's offensive could cause critical Tory MPs and the opposition parties to come together.
Can Johnson still be stopped?
That Johnson might try to evade parliament had been suspected for some time. Several high-ranking politicians, including former Tory Prime Minister John Major, had announced they would go to court for a suspension of parliament. A lawsuit is already in progress. The prospects, however, are uncertain.
Parliament itself can not prevent its compulsory break. Just recently, Labor leader Jeremy Corbyn had agreed with representatives of other opposition parties to jointly want to stop a hard Brexit by law.
Now that the room for maneuver has narrowed, Johnson's opponents could try to overthrow the government by a vote of no confidence. So far, the opposition is gracing. Too great is the concern Johnson could win such a vote.
And even if not, how would it continue? An interim government is under discussion, but Labor leader and veteran Jeremy Corbyn, who wants to claim the post of Prime Minister in such a situation, is met with great opposition in the other opposition parties. So far.
At least theoretically, the Queen could have had a say too - after all, it's formally her job to use the Parliament and convene again. Corbyn has written a letter to the Queen. But the Queen accepted Johnson's request - and agreed to the suspension of parliament. Otherwise, she would have done something that is hard to imagine: active politics.