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Proceedings against compulsory break for parliament: Johnson's prosecutor

2019-09-18T17:58:38.989Z


One is a politically engaged businesswoman from London, the other was himself a Tory premier: Gina Miller and John Major fight in court for a common goal: to stop Boris Johnson.



United Kingdom and Gibraltar European Union membership referendum

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As everything in the British policy had its order, there was a grace period for newly-elected prime ministers. For a hundred days, according to the unwritten law, you should first have the new one done in Downing Street 10.

Boris Johnson has been in office for 56 days. He has lost six votes in the lower house, thrown 21 deserved Tories from the faction, his majority government is gone. There was never a grace period for Johnson. There is no time for that in the Brexit chaos, especially not with this premier.

Now Britain's Supreme Judge could even certify that he lied to the Queen. A monstrous charge against a prime minister. And at least for Johnson's opponent is clear: That would be a reason for resignation.

It is truly extraordinary what is happening in the British Supreme Court these days. Two judgments are being heard in the final instance: the London ruling that Johnson's controversial compulsory break is a purely political issue for Parliament - and thus no case for the judiciary. On the other hand, a Scottish court came to the conclusion that the government had illegally placed the deputies in order to be able to rule undisturbed at Brexit.

Johnson, in turn, had asked the Queen for the suspension of the Parliament with the much more harmless-sounding announcement that it needed a new session for the implementation of his future government program.

It is therefore about fundamentals: the lawfulness of the government, the control function of parliament and the judiciary. In the end, eleven judges decide. In turn, an interesting alliance has formed among the prosecutors. It is led by two celebrities with very different biographies but a common goal.

At the top is Gina Miller. The businesswoman already has a long experience in putting the government in Brexit questions. She initiated the lawsuit against Johnson's maneuver in the London High Court, which dismissed the lawsuit. Now she continues to fight in higher authority, the Supreme Court. She is supported by a politician who was once the most powerful man in the kingdom: ex-prime minister John Major.

These are Johnson's famous opponents in court:

Gina Miller

Toby Melville / REUTERS

Activist Gina Miller: "I believe that you have to raise your voice when you see things go wrong"

This is not the first time Gina Miller has tried the government. In 2016, she brought Theresa May into distress. The then Prime Minister wanted to apply for Brexit in Brussels without consulting the Parliament first. Miller complained - and won.

Miller is a successful businesswoman and declared Brexit opponent. The democratic voice of the deputies is their big topic. Even now. The lawsuit against the Johnson government pays the millionaire with her own money - and with her safety. Murder and rape threats, which she received in 2016, are increasing again, she said. Her house is guarded, she comes to public appointments with bodyguards.

Miller has become one of the most dazzling personalities among anti-Brexit activists in recent years. The 54-year-old was born in South America but is of Indian descent. When she was ten years old, her parents sent her to England for a girls' boarding school. Later she worked occasionally as a chambermaid, later she studied law and operated a photo agency for real estate. In 2009, she founded an investment firm with her husband.

Before Miller took on the government years later, she got involved with the London financial industry - and with her own environment. With a campaign to increase transparency and hidden fees on financial products, she became a persona non grata in parts of the city.

"I'm not a politician," Miller once said. "What I expect from the parliamentarians is to do what we pay them for: debating and making decisions that are best for our country." No matter what verdict the judges make, the Johnson administration is unlikely to get rid of an opponent like Miller.

John Major

Justin Tallis / AFP

Ex-prime minister John Major: grief used to EU opponents in their own ranks

John Major is catching up on his own past these days: it's about 1997, the time when Major and his Tories suffered a devastating defeat against the Tony Blair-led Labor party. At that time, Parliament was to debate a report on corrupt Tory MPs. Not a pleasant thing for Major and his people. At that time, the PM reacted with a maneuver that is very familiar to many today: He sent the deputies into a three-week forced break.

Major now has to put up with many questions: Why is he fighting what he did himself at the time? Because the former Tory boss supports the Miller lawsuit against the government. On the other hand, Johnson puts Parliament to cold much longer than Major, and it is about much more: the future of Great Britain. Major in turn despises his party comrade Johnson - and has already fought against the Brexit before the referendum of 2016.

Problems with EU haters in the Tories is used to John Major. Although he was once considered a pupil of the arch-conservative Margaret Thatcher. But after taking office in 1990, he set on a much more social and pro-European course - much to the annoyance of his predecessor and the right party wing. The Maastricht treaties were only able to whip Major through the lower house in 1993 - and only because he had linked the vote with a vote of confidence.

Recently, 76-year-old political veteran Johnson accused Johnson of turning the Tories into a "sect." The prime minister's advisors also poisoned "the political atmosphere," he said. On Thursday, Major himself speaks in the Supreme Court. The gig should last 20 minutes. It should be exciting.

Source: spiegel

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