News emerged on Wednesday that Boris Johnson will attempt to block parliament until 14 October.
The Prime Minister has asked the Queen to suspend parliament ahead of the Halloween Brexit deadline.
The GBP/USD took a hit, sinking to around 1.2200 following the announcement.
The move was met with backlash because it limits MPs’ ability to block a no-deal departure from the European Union.
Below are a collection of reactions to the Prime Minister’s actions.
Nicola Sturgeon, current First Minister of Scotland, took to Twitter to comment:
So it seems that Boris Johnson may actually be about to shut down Parliament to force through a no deal Brexit. Unless MPs come together to stop him next week, today will go down in history as a dark one indeed for UK democracy. https://t.co/68lFnEgiyr
— Nicola Sturgeon (@NicolaSturgeon) 28 August 2019
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Philip Hammond, British Conservative politician, said that the move was “profoundly undemocratic”.
It would be a constitutional outrage if Parliament were prevented from holding the government to account at a time of national crisis. Profoundly undemocratic.
— Philip Hammond (@PhilipHammondUK) 28 August 2019
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British Labour Party politician David Lammy said on Twitter that “Boris Johnson wants to suspend democracy to force through a No Deal Brexit against the will of Parliament and the country.”
Boris Johnson wants to suspend democracy to force through a No Deal Brexit against the will of Parliament and the country. Politicians from all parties must do all we can to stop this.pic.twitter.com/A0zJUS7HUK
— David Lammy (@DavidLammy) 28 August 2019
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British Author Carole Cadwalladr addressed citizens across the pond:
America, if you are waking up to this news and wondering what on earth is going on in Britain, you’re not the only ones. Imagine you’ve got Trump and then he shut Congress. That’s literally where we’re at. https://t.co/klAF2Qhlpc
— Carole Cadwalladr (@carolecadwalla) 28 August 2019
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British Labour Party politician Andrew Adonis said that “a kind of coup is taking place” and that:
For the prime minister to put the Queen in this unconstitutional position is an extreme dereliction of duty
— Andrew Adonis (@Andrew_Adonis) 28 August 2019
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In addition to the reactions shared on the social media platform Twitter, Nigel Green, Chief Executive and Founder of deVere Group, provided a comment.
“It could be argued that Boris Johnson’s decision to ask the Queen to suspend parliament, and therefore to prevent democratically elected representatives of the people doing their job, is deeply unconstitutional and has the hallmarks of a tin-pot dictator,” Nigel Green said.
“It is likely to be a tactic to spook negotiators into making concessions to the Withdrawal Agreement. Whether it will work remains to be seen. It will almost certainly be challenged in the courts.”
“What we do know for sure though is that this step will inflict further unnecessary economic damage on an already extremely vulnerable UK economy,” Nigel Green warned.
“Depressingly, recession is looming for Britain and Johnson’s highly controversial tactics seriously increase the uncertainty which will further drag on investment and trade.”
“In addition, it will further batter the beleaguered pound, which reduces people’s purchasing power. Weaker sterling means imports are more expensive, with rising prices typically being passed on to consumers.”
“Brexit has plunged Britain into an existential crisis that will last for generations.”
