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As it happenedended1567033248

Boris Johnson news: Thousands of protestors gather outside parliament, as MEPs plan investigation into suspension of government

Follow how the day unfolded

Adam Forrest,Lizzy Buchan,Samuel Osborne
Wednesday 28 August 2019 23:50 BST
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Thousands of protesters gather outside parliament, as MEPs plan investigation into suspension of government

Boris Johnson has been accused of committing a “constitutional outrage” after he asked the Queen to allow him to suspend parliament for five weeks until 14 October.

Opposition leaders believe the move is an attempt to stop them from blocking a no-deal Brexit, prompting critics to accuse him of acting like a “tin-pot dictator”.

In a day of high drama, protesters descended on Westminster demanding the PM “stops the coup”, with hundreds over a million people signing a petition against prorogation within hours.

See below for live updates

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Good morning and welcome to The Independent's live coverage of events at Westminster and beyond.

Adam Forrest28 August 2019 08:19
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Sajid Javid has cancelled his first major speech as chancellor and the Treasury has brought forward its spending round to 4 September – prompting speculation that an early election is on the horizon.

Here’s the latest.

Adam Forrest28 August 2019 08:23
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Shadow chancellor John McDonnell is not impressed by news of a 4 September spending review.

“Nobody is fooled into believing that this is a proper and normal spending review. It’s a one-off pre-election panic-driven stunt budget,” he says.

Adam Forrest28 August 2019 08:24
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A Home Office ad campaign informing EU nationals how to confirm their UK status after Brexit has been banned for being “misleading”.

Here’s our social affairs correspondent May Bulman with the details.

Adam Forrest28 August 2019 08:26
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Boris Johnson’s Brexit “sherpa” – his Europe adviser David Frost – heads to Brussels today for talks with EU officials on Wednesday to discuss possible alternatives to the Irish backstop.

It follows a phone call between the PM and European Commission president Jean-Claude Juncker on Tuesday evening, in which Johnson told Juncker that nothing short of removing the backstop would be good enough for his government.

A Downing Street spokeswoman said: “The PM was also clear however that unless the Withdrawal Agreement is reopened and the backstop abolished there is no prospect of that deal.”

A spokesman for the commission said Juncker used the exchange to repeat his willingness to “work constructively” to look at “concrete proposals he may have, as long as they are compatible with the Withdrawal Agreement”.

Juncker said the EU was “fully prepared for a no-deal scenario” but added that the bloc would do “everything it can to avoid such a situation”.

Adam Forrest28 August 2019 08:33
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The surprise announcement that chancellor Sajid Javid will set out Whitehall spending budgets next week has fuelled speculation that the government is preparing for an early election.

Dr Paul Johnson, director at the Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) think tank, said the big things to look out for were the total level of spending increase and where any additional money goes.

He told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme: “The prime minister has used the term people’s priorities, he’s talked about health, he’s talked about police, he’s talked about schools, but actually over the last several years the bits of public services that have really suffered much worse than those areas are the justice system, prisons and courts and so on, local government, social care and further education.

“So, not only has he got to decide how much to spend, but is he actually going to spend it on those areas which sound most popular or those areas which frankly actually need it even more than our schools, our hospitals and our police?”

On possible no-deal measures, Dr Johnson warned a “general splurge may not be particularly effective” and “may cause more problems than it helps because it might just push prices up further”.

Adam Forrest28 August 2019 08:51
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Former Tory leadership candidate Rory Stewart has said he is “hesitating” to work with Jeremy Corbyn, despite his opposition to a no-deal Brexit.

The Labour leader has fired off a letter to 116 Tory and independent MPs asking them to join forces to block a crash-out departure from the EU.

Adam Forrest28 August 2019 08:59
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More from Tory MP Rory Stewart. “I think we need to learn again to compromise and be pragmatic,” he said on the Today programme.

“I would definitely vote against a no-deal Brexit and I think it’s important to understand there’s never been a majority in parliament for a no-deal Brexit, this is one of the fundamental facts that's been true for months, but the second question is then what?

“And that’s where I think I probably disagree with some of these opposition MPs.”

Adam Forrest28 August 2019 09:03
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There is talk of a possible meeting of the Privy Council today to discuss an extension of the parliamentary recess usually held for conference season, according to The Guardian’s political editor.

The Privy Council is the formal body of advisors to the Queen.

Adam Forrest28 August 2019 09:10
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The BBC’s Laura Kuenssberg has confirmed that the Privy Council will be discussing parliamentary procedure and timetables for October today.

The government wants to hold a Queen’s speech on 14 October, which would give MPs less time to block no-deal Brexit.

Adam Forrest28 August 2019 09:10

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