Speaker John Bercow vows to stop Boris Johnson breaking the law on Brexit
- Bercow threatens to rip up parliamentary rule book to block any illegal attempt by prime minister to take Britain out of EU without a deal on October 31
- Colourful and controversial political figure has announced he will step down at end of October, Johnson’s Brexit deadline
John Bercow has threatened Boris Johnson that he will be prepared to rip up the parliamentary rule book to stop any illegal attempt by the prime minister to take Britain out of the EU without a deal on October 31.
In a direct warning to No 10, the Speaker of the House of Commons said he is prepared to allow “additional procedural creativity” if necessary to allow parliament to block Johnson from ignoring the law.
“If we come close to [Johnson ignoring the law], I would imagine parliament would want to cut off that possibility … Neither the limitations of the existing rule book or ticking of the clock will stop it doing so,” he said, delivering the annual Bingham lecture in London.
“If I have been remotely ambiguous so far, let me make myself crystal clear. The only form of Brexit that we have, whenever that might be, will be a Brexit that the House of Commons has explicitly endorsed.”
He also proposed a written constitution to stop “executive malpractice or fiat”, which could potentially have avoided the constitutional crisis that Britain has found itself in over Brexit.