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Politics Explained

Which draft laws were dropped because of parliament’s suspension?

Bills on Brexit, domestic violence and animal cruelty were among those that will need to be reintroduced in the next session. Benjamin Kentish reports

Friday 13 September 2019 22:58 BST
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MPs will not sit again for another five weeks
MPs will not sit again for another five weeks

Boris Johnson’s unprecedented decision to suspend parliament earlier this month was widely condemned, with critics accusing him of behaving like a dictator and riding roughshod over the constitution. The move deprived MPs of crucial opportunities to debate Brexit, with just weeks left before Britain is due to leave the EU. But the decision to prorogue parliament had another major consequence, which has received less attention.

The abrupt ending of the parliamentary session, which had lasted since 2017, meant legislation that was on its way through parliament had to be dropped. While there is a mechanism to carry over draft bills to the next session, most laws in front of parliament were dropped and will therefore need to be reintroduced once the new sitting starts in October – if, of course, ministers choose to do so.

In total, there were 14 bills that had not completed their passage through the Commons and the Lords before parliament was prorogued. According to the House of Commons Library, two of these were carried over by the government, leaving 12 that were dropped. These were related to issues including:

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