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LONDON — Normally in times of national crisis, British leaders convene Parliament. But as the country confronts its biggest decision in many decades, Prime Minister Boris Johnson seems intent on doing the opposite.
On Wednesday he announced plans that would shorten the time Parliament has to debate Brexit, potentially increasing the likelihood of a no-deal Brexit.
The move elicited furious cries of outrage from opposition politicians, who denounced it as undemocratic and possibly unconstitutional. And it set the stage for a heated showdown with Parliament next week, when it returns from summer recess, and possibly again in October, as the Halloween deadline for Brexit bears down.
[What is Brexit? Read an explanation here.]
The speaker of the House of Commons, John Bercow, called Mr. Johnson’s decision a “constitutional outrage.” Jeremy Corbyn, the leader of the opposition Labour Party, denounced it as “reckless,” while the party’s finance policy spokesman, John McDonnell, called it a “very British coup.”
“Whatever one’s views on Brexit, once you allow a Prime Minister to prevent the full and free operation of our democratic institutions you are on a very precarious path,” Mr. McDonnell wrote on Twitter.
[What a no-deal Brexit might mean, and why it matters.]
Mr. Johnson’s plan also threatens to drag Queen Elizabeth II into the political arena, as she must approve the suspension of Parliament. At least one Brexit opponent, Jo Swinson, the leader of the staunchly anti-Brexit Liberal Democrats, said she had written a letter to the queen asking her to reject it.
Parliament was scheduled to meet during the first two weeks of September and then to be suspended for annual political party conferences. It was then scheduled to reconvene around Oct. 9.
But in a letter sent Wednesday to all members of Parliament, Mr. Johnson said he intended to ask the queen to “prorogue,” or suspend, Parliament for around a further week and to have it resume on Oct. 14, with the “Queen’s speech,” in which the monarch traditionally lays out the government’s agenda.
Legal experts said the move appeared to fall within the bounds of Britain’s unwritten constitution, but many saw it as a step on the path to a full blown constitutional crisis as the fight over Brexit grinds on toward the deadline.
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And it has already provoked one legal challenge, as a court in Edinburgh agreed to take up an appeal by dozens of members of Parliament to block the move.
An online petition on a government website, demanding that Parliament not be suspended while a Brexit deadline looms, collected more than 250,000 signatures by early Wednesday afternoon — far more than the 100,000 needed to require Parliament to debate the issue.
In a video interview on Wednesday morning, Mr. Johnson said he had made the decision in order to progress with “our plans to take this country forward” and to “get on with our domestic agenda.”
“To do that we need legislation, we’ve got to be bringing forward new and important bills and that’s why we are going to have a queen’s speech and we’re going to do it on Oct. 14,” he said. “We’ve got to move ahead now with a new legislative program.”
A majority in Parliament is on record opposing a no-deal Brexit, and many of those lawmakers hope to organize a vote that would prohibit the government from going through with it. On Tuesday, a group of opposition lawmakers agreed to coordinate toward that end.
Their time and room for maneuver were already limited, and a longer suspension would restrict them further, forcing rebel lawmakers to accelerate their efforts.
Yvette Cooper, an opposition Labour lawmaker strongly opposed to a no-deal Brexit, wrote on Twitter on Wednesday: “Boris Johnson is trying to use the Queen to concentrate power in his own hands — this is a deeply dangerous and irresponsible way to govern.”
Philip Hammond, a senior Conservative lawmaker, tweeted, “It would be a constitutional outrage if Parliament were prevented from holding the government to account at a time of national crisis.”
Dick Newby, leader of the Liberal Democrats in the House of Lords, wrote: “Suspending Parliament to stop debate and possible defeat is what dictators do. It must be resisted by every possible means.”
A Brexit deal with the European Union would be complicated, covering tariffs, product standards, fisheries, immigration, financial services, the border with Ireland and other issues. Mr. Johnson’s predecessor, Theresa May, negotiated a withdrawal agreement that was nearly 600 pages long, just to secure a transition period while long-term arrangements were made.
Parliament rejected Mrs. May’s deal three times this year, and nonbinding votes on a range of alternatives suggested that no particular approach had majority support.
