BORIS Johnson is facing another legal challenge over fears his government will ignore the law compelling him to seek a Brexit extension.
The same legal team behind the successful bid to overturn the suspension of Parliament is going to court again to ensure the Prime Minister complies.
Labour MP Ian Murray, a parliamentarian who is backing the move, said: “The wheels are in motion, and judges will once again have to be asked to uphold British democracy.
“It’s not for governments to try and find ways to disobey the law and Boris Johnson is not above the law. But the PM has been proven by the courts to be unlawful once already, and he simply can’t be trusted.”
Johnson was humiliated this month after the Supreme Court ruled that the advice he gave to the Queen on shutting down Parliament was unlawful.
The new challenge had been led by MPs and the legal team associated with the Good Law Project, which was founded by QC Jolyon Maugham. The team is heading for the courts again over the so-called Benn Act, which MPs passed recently.
The law requires the prime minister to seek a three-month Brexit extension if he is unable to get a withdrawal deal by October 19.
However, some anti-Brexit campaigners fear that Johnson may try to circumvent the law and crash the UK out of the EU without a deal.
On Wednesday, Murray asked Johnson: “If he doesn't get a deal through this house, or a no-deal through this house, by the 19th October, will he seek an extension from the EU until the 31st January.”
Johnson replied: “No”.
Maugham tweeted yesterday that a procedural hearing will take place on October 4, with a full substantive hearing likely to be heard four days later. He wrote: “The case seeks to oblige a Prime Minister, elected from 160,000, to comply with a law enacted by a Parliament elected from 46 million.”
Meanwhile, senior SNP MP Stewart Hosie has said there could be a Commons vote of no confidence in the Government next week, which would have the aim of replacing Johnson with an interim administration and seeking a Brexit.
Following talks between opposition party leaders at Westminster, Hosie said it now appeared to be the only way of ensuring Johnson did not take Britain out of the EU on October 31 in a no deal-Brexit.
"We have to do that because there is now no confidence that the Prime Minister will obey the law and seek the extension that Parliament voted for only a few weeks ago," he told the BBC Radio 4 Today programme. "It we are serious about the extension that is the only game in town."
Hosie said Labour's position on a confidence vote was "slightly confused" but they appeared committed to securing a Brexit extension.
However he acknowledged that the Liberal Democrats were reluctant to support a measure which could see Jeremy Corbyn installed in No 10 as prime minister. "If another name came forward that was acceptable to – a Ken Clarke or Dominic Grieve-type figure – then self-evidently that would be a good thing to do," he said.
"But it is also self-evidently the case that the second largest party [Labour] should have the first chance to form that administration. If Jo Swinson and the Lib Dems are actually serious about their stopping Brexit position then they need to stop playing political games, get on board with everybody else."
Hosie acknowledged that the plan would need the backing of all the opposition parties and the Tory rebels if it was to succeed.
"Yes, we could a have vote of no-confidence, yes the Government might well be brought down, but there is then still the issue of an interim administration in order to seek the extension to Article 50," he said.
"If that is not in place and effectively pre-agreed, then we might end up having the General Election on Boris Johnson's terms and allowing him to run down the clock and crash out without a deal."
For Labour, shadow communities secretary Andrew Gwynne said he did not know whether there would be a confidence vote. Asked if he thought there would be he said: "I don't know."
Jeremy Corbyn said he had a "productive meeting" with other opposition parties on Thursday but maintained that the current priority was preventing a no-deal Brexit, rather than a General Election.
The Labour leader told reporters yesterday: "Our priority, all of us, is to prevent a no-deal exit from the European Union on the 31st.
"And to make the Government carry out the EU number two act, which requires them, in the event of a no-deal, to apply for an extension before the 31st of October so that we can continue our normal trading arrangements and then have a serious discussion about the future. At that point, we're ready for an election.
"But the priority is to prevent a no-deal exit, with all the problems this could cause the people of this country."
Asked if he was ready to become an interim Prime Minister if necessary, Corbyn replied: "Absolutely. The normal process is that when a government collapses, the leader of the opposition is invited to form a minority government in order to carry through a specific and strictly limited process which would be to ensure no crash-out and to prepare for a General Election."
The Labour leader added the prospect of an election was "getting more likely every single day".
"This Government is collapsing, it's now lost all seven votes since Boris Johnson became Prime Minister," he said. "This Tory government has been defeated over 45 times in Parliament.
"They don't have a majority, they don't have a programme, they don't have the policies."
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