Boris Johnson news: Government tells public to ‘get ready’ in £100m advertising blitz amid slew of dire no-deal warnings
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Boris Johnson has called for the UK and EU to “step up the tempo” on Brexit talks, with No 10’s team of negotiators set to meet their counterparts in Brussels twice a week next month as the 31 October deadline looms.
It comes as former prime minister Sir John Major announced he would join a legal bid to block Mr Johnson’s move to suspend parliament for almost five weeks.
As rebel Tory MPs threaten to join opposition efforts to prevent a no-deal Brexit, organisers are hoping “hundreds of thousands” of people will take part in disruptive protests against the prorogation over the weekend.
Good morning and welcome to The Independent's live politics coverage, bringing you the latest on Westminster and Brussels as the UK edges closer to the 31 October Brexit cliff-edge.
Boris Johnson has called for the UK and EU to "step up the tempo" on talks as the clock ticks down towards the deadline.
Downing Street said the UK's team of Brexit negotiators will sit down with their EU counterparts twice a week in September "with the possibility of additional technical meetings, to discuss a way forward on securing a new deal".
That is being seen as attempt to calm the concerns of rebel Tory MPs opposed to a no-deal Brexit, some of whom are threatening to join opposition efforts to tie the PM's hands by legislating against the UK leaving the EU with an agreement.
Meanwhile, a judge in Scotland's highest civil court will rule today on a legal bid to block Johnson's move to prorogue parliament for over a month during the Brexit countdown.
A court in Northern Ireland will also hear from lawyers representing campaigner challenging the the PM's move, while Gina Miller's attempt to do the same at the High Court in London is also under way.
Those challenges were launched after the Queen approved Johnson's request for parliament to be suspended for five weeks from 10 September.
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Opposition MPs are increasingly confident they have the numbers to block a no-deal Brexit in the Commons amid a growing outcry over the prime minister's attempt to prorogue parliament, reports The Independent's political editor Andrew Woodcock:
A no-deal Brexit would "likely" interrupt flu vaccine supplies, at the same time as the UK is facing "a particularly virulent" strain of the illness, doctors have warned.
The president of the Royal College of Physicians, Andrew Goddard, told the BBC's Newsnight last night: "I can't sit here and say 'don't worry, no deal will be fine, no one is going to come to any harm, no one is going to run out of medicines'.
"What we can see is we're likely to not have enough flu vaccine, we are likely not to have the flu vaccine coverage that we've had in previous years, and that is likely to have an impact on the NHS."
Flu vaccines are offered free every year to those most at risk of the illness, including over-65s and pregnant women, and other people can pay a small fee for the medicine.
The NHS says the best time to have a flu vaccine is in the autumn, from the beginning of October to the end of November. Last winter, 72 per cent of eligible people aged over 65 and 45 per cent of eligible pregnant women had the vaccine, according to Public Health England.
However, a number of doctors and other health professionals have expressed concerns that a no-deal Brexit would negatively affect this year's supply. Drugs manufacturer Sanofi UK also said it expected flu issues in the event of no-deal.
The Department of Health said: "We are working closely with vaccine suppliers to ensure they have robust contingencies in place.
"We want to reassure our patients that our plans should ensure that supplies of vaccines remain uninterrupted when we leave the EU on October 31, whatever the circumstances."
Foreign secretary Dominic Raab has dismissed the furore over the suspension of parliament as "nonsense".
Boris Johnson's most senior minister insisted only around four days of Commons sitting time would be lost by proroguing proceedings for up to five weeks before a Queen's Speech on 14 October.
He told reporters at a meeting of EU foreign ministers in Helsinki: "The idea this is some kind of constitutional outrage is nonsense.
"It's actually lawful, it's perfectly proper, there is precedent for it and actually, fundamentally, for the people watching this, they want to see that we are leaving the EU but also talking about all the other things they expect us to be addressing."
Raab's claim that only four days of parliamentary debate will be lost is based on the fact that party conference season, which takes place in consecutive weeks from 14 September to 2 October, would usually take MPs away from Westminster for three weeks anyway.
However, there had been suggestions party conferences could be scrapped or delayed in light of the looming Brexit deadline. Even assuming they would have gone ahead, prorogation essentially halves the number of days MPs will have to scrutinise Brexit, analysts have said.
At least 60 protests have been planned in cities and towns across Britain this weekend in response to prime minister Boris Johnson’s decision to prorogue parliament, reports Andy Gregory:
Shadow attorney general Baroness Chakrabarti has said she believes opponents of Boris Johnson have the numbers in parliament to force through a change in the law to block a no-deal Brexit.
She also suggested people should "take to the streets" if the government continues its approach.
"My own soundings and those of colleagues in discussions over the last couple of days, in particular since the constitutional outrage, give me greater comfort that minds are now focused, especially on the Conservative side," she told BBC Radio 4's Today.
"I know that all sorts of high jinks have been discussed, filibusters and so on, but I believe that there are means of preventing any sort of public school dirty tricks working, even in the House of Lords."
In response to suggestions the government could seek to delay royal assent to any legislation aimed at blocking no-deal, the Labour peer said: "We do know that we are dealing with a bunch of people who have no respect for our precious constitution.
"If they try any more of this stuff we will use any means necessary to prevent this undemocratic behaviour - that includes people taking to the streets, that includes people taking to the airwaves, that includes people going to court.
"Because they are behaving in a way that is unworthy of a UK government."
The Tory former minister Oliver Letwin, a leading opponent of a no-deal Brexit, says he has been speaking to Commons Speaker John Bercow "for many months" to establish "what the procedures are" that could stop the UK crashing out of Europe.
"There is no question of any MP cooking up a deal with the Speaker - you can't do that, the Speaker has to follow the rules," he told BBC Radio 4's Today programme.
"It's perfectly true that I, for many months, have been talking to the clerks and to the Speaker, and that's the appropriate thing for MPs to do if they want to establish what the procedures are.
"The action here is on the part of MPs, not on the part of the Speaker."
Sir Oliver added: "I, of course, would like to see the prorogation not happen because I don't think the prorogation is a proper proceeding. But, whether it is lawful or not, we will find out in the courts. That's not for MPs to decide.
"What I have been concerned with and will continue to be concerned with is the question of how, in the remaining time if we are prorogued, we can ensure that Britain doesn't make a sudden, disorderly, undemocratic no-deal exit on October 31."
France's government is firming up preparations for a chaotic Brexit, according to its European affairs minister, who said that Britain was now likely to crash out of the EU without a deal.
Aurelie de Montchalin said on BFM television this morning that "given how things are going, it's probable" that the UK will leave on 31 October with no plans for how to handle trade, travel and cross-border business the next morning.
She said "we are talking all the time" with British counterparts about Brexit, and that the withdrawal agreement negotiated with the EU remains "on the table." She would not comment on prime minister Boris Johnson's move this week to suspend parliament for five weeks.
French interior minister Christophe Castaner met British home secretary Priti Patel yesterday and stressed it was "ifundamental to maintain tight cooperation with the UK" despite Brexit, especially on fighting terrorism and managing migration.
Michael Gove is visiting the northern port of Calais today with France's customs minister to study Brexit preparations.
Sir John Major has announced he is seeking to join the legal action being brought by campaigner Gina Miller over Boris Johnson's decision to suspend Parliament.
In an intervention that pits the former Conservative prime minister in a legal battle against the current one, Sir John said: "I promised that, if the prime minister prorogued parliament in order to prevent members from opposing his Brexit plans, I would seek judicial review of his action.
"In view of the imminence of the prorogation - and to avoid duplication of effort, and taking up the court's time through repetition - I intend to seek the court's permission to intervene in the claim already initiated by Gina Miller, rather than to commence separate proceedings.
"If granted permission to intervene, I intend to seek to assist the court from the perspective of having served in government as a minister and prime minister, and also in parliament for many years as a member of the House of Commons.
"I will be represented by The Rt Hon The Lord Garnier QC and Tom Cleaver, who will be instructed by Herbert Smith Freehills LLP."
The judge who is ruling on a request for an interim order to prevent Boris Johnson suspending parliament has entered the chamber at Edinburgh's Court of Session. Expect news of Lord Doherty's decision shortly.
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