Transcripts For BBCNEWS Beyond 100 Days 20240714

Is doing is a smash and grab on our democracy in order to force through a no deal exit. Meanwhile Ruth Davidson leader of the scottish conservatives says shes on the verge of quitting. Its a blow to the Prime Minister. And, in the wake of all of this, the Financial Markets have their say the pound falls nearly 1 against the dollar and euro. Hello and welcome. Im katty kay in washington and david eades is in london. The queen has approved the Prime Ministers decision to suspend the British Parliament just days after it returns from recess next week. The move significantly limits the parliamentary time mps now have to pass laws stopping a no deal brexit on the 31st october, as just yesterday opposition leaders had said was their plan. Critics of the government are calling it a constitutional outrage, but ministers maintain the suspension is normal practice ahead of a queens speech. The Prime Minister has denied that the move was intended to force through a no deal, insisting instead that its necessary to start a fresh parliamentary session in which his government can set out its new plans. Ample time on both sides of that crucial october the 17th summit, ample time in parliament for mps to debate the eu, to debate brexit and all the other issues. Ample time. The leader of the opposition labour party, jeremy corbyn, says that the first thing mps will do when they return to the commons next tuesday is attempt to pass a law opposing the suspension, followed by a vote of no confidence. This is an attempt by a Prime Minister who was elected by a very small number of people in the country, the conservative party membership, to ride roughshod over parliament and prevent any legislation or debate that would stop this country leaving the eu without a deal. Prorogation is the formal term for suspending parliament, which means bringing all business debates, legislation and votes to a halt. The move considerably reduces the amount of parliamentary Time Available for mps before the current brexit date. Under old plans, parliament was set to sit for six weeks between next tuesday and the end of october. But parliament will now close for business earlier, not reopening until october 14th, and mps will be unable to pass any legislation in the interim. It gives Parliament Even less time to try to stop no deal before britains scheduled leaving date of october 31st. Joining us now from westminster is whitehall correspondent for the financial times, sebastian payne. Thank you forjoining us. The biggest impact of the Prime Ministers decision . biggest impact of the Prime Ministers decision . I think the reaction is the biggest impact, and prorogation happens all the time, but this is only about a week before one session ends and another starts. This is the longest prorogation, suspension of parliament, since 1945, so a lot of people are seeing this as an outrage, and one person is the speaker of the commons, john bercow, who is currently sunning himself in a much nicer climate and said he hadnt been informed by the government of this, and he said it was clearly an attempt by mrjohnson to stop mps from debating the consequences of brexit, with or without a deal. In response, mr johnson has said this isjust his way of putting forward a new legislative programme. What is really going on here is that downing street is very keen to stop mps from having time to debate and try and stop his brexit strategy, because they dont want a no deal brexit whereas his strategy is to keep that no deal brexit on the table in an effort to force a deal at the next eu council, which is due on the 17th of october. So people in downing street are saying, in fact, this gives us a perfect landing zone to get a brexit deal, because parliament wont be able to stop a no deal, which will create maximum pressure on the eu when it comes to that council, but that isnt going to keep many people happy to see this as mrjohnson trying to subvert the will of parliament. This as mrjohnson trying to subvert the will of parliamentlj this as mrjohnson trying to subvert the will of parliament. I wonder what the Chain Reaction will be in parliament. I think its fair to say, for all the hand wringing and shaking of heads, borisjohnson had pointed towards this previously, hadnt he . It wasnt of the blue. |j was with mrjohnson at the g7 this weekend in biarritz and he was consistently asked, would he Prorogue Parliament or shut it down, and he said he wasnt so keen on these arcane devices, but he never ruled it out. So we all knew this was a possibility. The line from number ten has been that politicians dont get to choose. The public votes they respect. That is a reference to the 2016 referendum. Borisjohnson reference to the 2016 referendum. Boris johnson sees reference to the 2016 referendum. Borisjohnson sees that reference to the 2016 referendum. Boris johnson sees that as the crucial mandate and if that means shutting down parliament, he is willing to do that. As you were saying, the question is, what is going to happen when parliament returns next tuesday . Mps were already hoping to get legislation into law and force him to have a brexit delay, but now the anti has been upped. The timetable of perhaps revoking no confidence moving up a bit. Lets just show you how some members of the uk public have been reacting to the governments decision to suspend parliament. This is an official online petition which anyone can start via the uk parliaments website. So far, there are 664,168 signatures and counting. Every ten seconds, it updates. Its main demand is that Parliament Must not be prorogued or suspended unless and until the article 50 period has been sufficiently extended or the uks intention to withdraw from the eu has been cancelled. For or against these idea. These are all against proroguing. The numbers are rising all the time, and weve both guessed what it will be before the end of the programme. We will review this to get a sense of how fast it is rising. If you get more than 100,000 signatures, you can have a debate. Well on their way with 665,000. Lets head over to derby and speak to the conservative mp pauline latham, who is a member of the pro Brexit European Research group. Pauline, thank you forjoining us. I wonder if i could start with this. I dont quite understand why the government doesntjust come clean and say, yes, this is to restrict time for debate and effort once again to block the leaving date of october the 31st, because its pretty transparent, isnt it . Know, because we need a queens speech. We had one for theresa may and her legislative programme. We havent had one for borisjohnson, and we need one. Weve heard the media talking all day about us not being there for weeks and weeks and weeks. We werent going to be there for three to four weeks anyway because of the conference recess. This is just three orfour of the conference recess. This is just three or four days in addition to that. Its certainly got everyone going, and it raises the prospect, a risky prospect, perhaps, of a vote of no confidence, or indeed still of those mps opposed to that 31st of october no deal brexit still managing to somehow pull together legislation to block it. But we dont know that there will be no deal. Borisjohnson dont know that there will be no deal. Boris johnson is dont know that there will be no deal. Borisjohnson is trying very ha rd to deal. Borisjohnson is trying very hard to get a deal, and that is what all of us really want. It has to be the right deal, i agree and, if he doesnt get a deal that is satisfactory for parliament, we will debate no deal. We will debate a deal if he gets one. There is time for that after the queens speech. What is the Prime Minister afraid of . If he thinks hes got such a good plan and strategy, why not have Parliament Debated it for as long as possible before the end of october . We mentioned it was going to be out of session anyway, but there were moves among parliamentarians to cancel the recess, so they would have added three to four weeks to the timetable. Youd have to cancel three party conferences, which is never going to happen. He isnt afraid of anything. He needs his own legislative programme. We cant debate anything until we know what we are going to debating. He hasnt got the deal yet, and that isnt going to happen until the 16th or 17th of october, so what are we supposed to do . Sit in parliament kicking our heels . Weve been doing that for several months when we havent really been legislating. Weve been weeks and weeks not voting on anything. So we need things to vote on. We need to go into parliament to debate them. Yes, once borisjohnson into parliament to debate them. Yes, once Boris Johnson gets into parliament to debate them. Yes, once borisjohnson gets a deal, he will bring it to parliament and we will bring it to parliament and we will discuss it, but he cant bring it until hes got it. You would concede that this is unusual, it is a long period of time for parliament to be prorogued at a period of Intense National interest, crisis that the country is going through, to the extent that democracy is made up to the extent that democracy is made up notjust of rules but of customs and norms, do you have any concerns at all about riding roughshod over some of those customs and norms . Well, i have concerns that some people are trying to ride roughshod over the referendum result, but we do always have a prorogation prior to the queens speech, and that is what this is. So, would you be quite happy to say, at this point, i think borisjohnson happy to say, at this point, i think Boris Johnson pretty much happy to say, at this point, i think borisjohnson pretty much said it, that there should be ample time, nonetheless, for a debate for mps in parliament before we get to october the 31st . Well, you may have noticed that, over the last three years, we have had days and days. But i am asking that before we get to the october 31 deadline. Yes, but, once hes got a deal, there will be something for us to discuss. We debated no deal. We havent got no deal or a deal at the moment. Once he gets a deal, if he gets a deal, we will have ample time after the queens speech to debate in parliament, and it will be the same people saying the same thing which is whats been happening for three yea rs. If is whats been happening for three years. If hes got a deal, will be able to discuss the realities of what we are going to do once weve left europe. Ok. Thank you, pauline latham. And joining us now is the labour mp for oxford east, anneliese dodds. Thank you forjoining us. In a sense, the Prime Minister has called the bluff of the opposition, hasnt he, by moving up the timetable potentially for a vote of no confidence, and yet the numbers for voting no confidence in the government may well not be there . What Boris Johnson government may well not be there . What borisjohnson has done is unusual, to say the least. Many people are actually saying its pretty undemocratic. I think all us mps were expecting that wed be able to come back according to the usual timetable. In fact, to come back according to the usual timetable. Infact, many to come back according to the usual timetable. In fact, many of us expected, given the uncertainty caused by the threat of no deal, that we might be cancelling conference that we might be cancelling c0 nfe re nce recess that we might be cancelling conference recess is. I would have been more than happy for my party not to have a conference if it meant we could represent our constituents concerns. Instead, we have this bizarre move, which hasnt occurred before, its not the usual thing to happen. I do not have confidence in borisjohnson happen. I do not have confidence in Boris Johnson and i happen. I do not have confidence in borisjohnson and i didnt have confidence in him as a foreign secretary, and his behaviour as Prime Minister has cemented that view, but there isnt much sense having a no confidence vote unless certain to go through, and where we do have the numbers, i think its pretty clear across parliament, is in members of parliament representing their constituents overwhelming saying they dont want no deal because it wasnt on the ballot paper, we are frightened about it, we want to stop that. Parliament has voted time and time again to stop that, but we seem to have a Prime Minister determined to push that through. But the question will be how many conservative mps are actually prepared to cross the aisle and vote with the opposition against their own government, and thatis against their own government, and that is something that. Even today, youve got conservative members are saying, look, i really dont like what the Prime Minister is doing, but that doesnt mean im going to vote to make Prime Minister even a caretaker to makejeremy corbyn even caretaker Prime Minister. But weve had figures like philip hammond, previous chancellor, saying that he was deeply concerned about what the Prime Minister is doing. Many of these conservative mps will have been contacted stop in fa ct, mps will have been contacted stop in fact, im pretty sure all of them will have been contacted by people, constituents saying they cant get access to jobs they used to because of stockpiling. Constituents saying they are worried about their jobs of stockpiling. Constituents saying they are worried about theirjobs if there is a no deal. These conservative mps will hopefully have been listening, so i hope many of them will represent those concerns and become part of what is now a pretty big cross Party Movement of mps. It is a crossParty Movement but, if it comes to a vote of no confidence, and it means finding a ca reta ker confidence, and it means finding a caretaker Prime Minister, is it more important for you that it is someone who will represent whichever party it might be, whichever leader, than jeremy corbyn, who at the moment, one would have to suggest, you probably wouldnt get the backing . Would you be prepared to go with someone would you be prepared to go with someone else . We have been clear we will try to use every mechanism, and obviouslyjeremy has will try to use every mechanism, and obviously jeremy has been will try to use every mechanism, and obviouslyjeremy has been in talks with the other opposition leaders. He was doing that yesterday, and i understand they were productive talks. I think my main concern is about the impact of this on the country. It isnt about any kind of Party Management issues. I know that there is deeply concerned about the prospect of no deal. I think he would be by far the most effective leader of any kind of situation that mightarise, leader of any kind of situation that might arise, but our main priority is blocking that chaotic brexit that would have such a negative impact on people in the country. That is the priority. Anneliese dodds, thank you. Weve got some live pictures coming m, weve got some live pictures coming in, ithink. This weve got some live pictures coming in, i think. This is at westminster. You can see there is a right old crowd gathered down there. There was talk of a demonstration marching through. I was there earlier and it was rowdy. It certainly wasnt, lets say, and organise demonstrations that weve got going on at the moment, blocking off quite a bit of westminster and millbank. Joining us now from north west france is former conservative minister phillip lee. Thank you for joining the programme for you what Justice Minister theresa mays government and you resigned over her approach to brexit, which you considered too hardline. Would you be willing at this juncture to support a vote of no confidence in Boris Johnsons support a vote of no confidence in borisjohnsons government . Support a vote of no confidence in Boris Johnsons government . support a vote of no confidence in Boris Johnsons government . I dont think we are at that stage. I know the broader public are just wondering when this nonsense is going to end, i think votes of no confidence are an october phenomenon, not a september one. I continue to believe there is a way through, a legislative way through in parliament to stop no deal being forced on a country that doesnt clearly wa nt forced on a country that doesnt clearly want it. Given that the timetable is now so short, what kind of way . I bow to colleagues who are legislative experts, but i am pretty convinced there is something we can do, which explains, i guess, why the government have made the move that they have stopped its all within they have stopped its all within the rules, and im not going to throw my toys out of the pram. They are trying to get an outcome of forcing either a no deal or putting people like me in a position to vote for a deal that i dont think is the best interests of my constituents, with the threat being, if i dont it will be no dealfor with the threat being, if i dont it will be no deal for you with the threat being, if i dont it will be no dealfor you dont with the threat being, if i dont it will be no deal for you dont have to be that clever to know what its all about. Its pretty obvious. But i think it. Parliamentarians, especially conservatives who think a no deal isjust especially conservatives who think a no deal is just not in the best interests of our nation, to stand up and be counted next week, and i think, if they do, its going to be an interesting outcome. Hunter thats an interesting point. In a sense, you might even see something positive come out of what, in other circumstances, you perhaps would find a distasteful, this proroguing. Im not surprised by the actions of a pretty ruthless hard brexit minority of my party, backed by operatives who make it well known that are extremely clever and sharp and are going to do this, that and the other. Why am i surprised they would do this . It hasnt come as a surprise to those conservatives like myself, like dominic grieve, who have been warning colleagues for months that this was the ultimate endgame. Well, we are into the endgame, they signalled their intention to force things through and they will use any rule and bent it as far as they can to secure that outcome, in which case, conservative collea g u es outcome, in which case, conservative colleagues in particular, dont like what happening who think its wrong and not in the best interests of the country, there was no choice to make, its put up or shut up time next week. And your holiday is nearly over now. I am looking at myself in the screen, thinking, there is the parliamentarian having a nice time in north west france but, to be honest. Im very happy to give up my time on this issue, because it is hugely important to the future of our country phillip lee in brittany. Thank you. Joining us now lee in brittany. Thank you. Joining us now from brussels is our europe editor, catty editor katya adler. What are they saying over there . Officially, deciding to suspend parliament and the arguments for or against that at such a pivotal time in the uk, that is seen by the eu as a domestic matter, and thats why the european commission, for example, or angela merkel, the german chancellor, have refused to comment. They have been comments from inside the European Parliament itself. The president of the European Parliament saying that keeping Parliament Open and listening to them is good for democracy, while guy verhofstadt, who is on the Brexit Steering Committee and is known for being outspoken, said this was a sinister turn in the brexit drama, if you like. But i think, if the question is, by taking these actions as the Prime Minister now made eu leaders to sit up and listen, smell the coffee and realise that he is serious about a no deal brexit . Then i say to you, they already believed he was serious after his trips last week to berlin and paris and his presence at the g7 summit this weekend as well. That realisation isnt making eu leaders panic. It isnt making eu leaders panic. It isnt making eu leaders panic. It isnt making them say theyll compromise now to avoid no deal. Of course, a no deal brexit would be damaging for the eu but, in the eu compromises, and it does, it tends to compromise when its in its own wider interest, and that you simply think that getting rid of that famous irish backstop guarantee without anything else to replace it and thereby exposing the whole Single Market, would be more damaging than that no deal brexit. Youll remember that refrain of theresa mays that no deal is better than a bad deal . The eu agrees with that. That said, at a low level, cross channel discussions are taking place as to what alternatives could be. And i guess that is still the question, right, katya adler . The timetable may have shrunk them but in the end it will come down to those last or three weeks of october and whether the eu side feels that there has been something presented from number ten that amounts to an a cce pta ble from number ten that amounts to an acceptable substitute to the backstop. In the end, it will come down to that, wont it . It will, and you say two or three weeks, and if you say two or three weeks, and if you take the Prime Minister at his word that he definitely wants to leave the eu by the 31st of october, but this isnt a man who has always kept his word. These repeated enough that its very hard to see how we could u turn on this, but it also said when he gets came Prime Minister not only does he want to leave by the 31st of october that he wa nts to leave by the 31st of october that he wants to reunite a divided uk, divided over this issue. If you wanted, perhaps it could use those divisions as saying, look, we need to go forward in a calmer manner and therefore the Brexit Process another time. That looks unlikely. On the eu side, there are those who believe there is a very small window, and i say that because the most likely outcome in eu circles is now being seen as a outcome in eu circles is now being seen as a no deal brexit, but those who see a small window of opportunity say thats got on with an extension or its going to have to bea an extension or its going to have to be a last minute deal at the end of october, so nail biting time again, and it isnt the first time weve been there in this Brexit Process. I wonder if it will be the last one . You never know. Joining us now from our westminster studio is former adviser to george osborne, helen thomas. Thank you forjoining us. With all these ruffled feathers, i wonder who is our ref of the most . Perhaps it is our ref of the most . Perhaps it is so deeply upset about the idea of a no deal brexit and yet they are on the spot now. They certainly are, and this is a huge hand grenade to throw into matters just before everybody comes back from recess and i think it is deliberately designed, of course, to do that, to really put the squeeze on each conservative mp. What is their priority . Do they back Boris Johnsons strategy of what is their priority . Do they back borisjohnsons strategy of do or die orare borisjohnsons strategy of do or die or are they prepared to go against him . Is clearly the big challenge. One thing it does is show how proactive borisjohnson is. There must be some who are thinking, at least we are getting a blockage cleared. Thats right. Thats why this is so surprising because, under theresa may, we had a couple of yea rs of theresa may, we had a couple of years of very reactive leadership, where she wanted to go away and think heavily about things and then shed take a risk. This is a proactive leader who seems happy to ta ke proactive leader who seems happy to take these risks and clearly has some kind of plan. Whether all of his mps will agree with that we are about to find out. There has been a lot of focus today on whether this jumps out the timetable for a vote of no confidence, but lets say that that passes, that the labour side manages to get enough mps pulled over from the tory side they have to support for it, what happens then . Its not even clear then that Boris Johnson feels he has to step down as Prime Minister, and we could have the election after the 31st of october. Thats what has become clear about the vote of no confidence, if you are anti no deal, it doesnt guarantee avoidance of that. In fact, very little procedurally actually gets rid of no deal. In fact, that group of people, all they can really hope for is an extension in any case, because of course the clock is ticking as we go down towards the wire, whenever that date is, and we will leave without a deal if that doesnt happen. Effectively, talk of anti no deal in itself is rather misleading. Thank you, helen. It throws up question after question after question, doesnt it . Each time you reach a point, you think, now there has to bea point, you think, now there has to be a decision, and they managed to find another ruse or another route to delay it a bit more. I have been asked to go on American Television this evening and explain what is going on in parliament. You try that this is beyond 100 days from the bbc. Next for viewers on the bbc news channel and bbc world news well be speaking to more mps to get their reaction to the news that parliament is to be suspended early. And tony blairs former spin doctor Alistair Campbell tells us the case for a general election has never been stronger. We spoke to him a short time ago. That interview is coming up. Hello. No sign of temperatures returning to the low 30s over the next few days. Weve had much more cloud and some rain around today but, where we got the sunshine, temperatures rose to around the mid 20s, which will be a figure well see again for parts of the south east. Always wetter further north and west. Weve still got some rain to clear away from east anglia and the south east of england as we head towards midnight. That will eventually clear away and clearer skies follow for most areas. As the breeze picks up, it will blow in more cloud to Northern Ireland and western scotland, but a cooler night. Noticeably so towards the south east after its been so warm and muggy over the last few nights, so a more comfortable start for thursday. A sunny start for much and england and wales. It will tend to cloud over more. Well see one or two showers out towards the west but, with a stronger wind, well push in more showers towards Northern Ireland and particularly into scotland. Perhaps some longer spells of rain in the north west, where it will be quite windy. Temperatures 17 through the central belt of scotland to a high of 24 around london. Windy or wetter weather towards the north west of the uk. Weve got that area of low pressure and that with the front, which is going to be hanging around. Follow it all the way back into the atlantic. Its going to have waves and ripples of it, enhancing the rainfall. Essentially, weve got this Conveyor Belt of cloud and rain affecting Northern Ireland, much of scotland throughout friday, over the irish sea and into north west england. Maybe a few showers into wales, too. For the midlands towards the south east, with south westerly winds, its actually going to be quite warm, especially when the sun comes out. Further north, well have cloud and rain. That will continue overnight and into saturday. There could be as much as four inches of rain over the hills of dumfries and galloway. That rain is still around on saturday. It clears away from Northern Ireland. The rain band pivots its way into wales and western england. Still dry for Eastern England. Those temperatures still into the mid 20s. Much cooler as you head further north and west. Thats a sign of whats to come. That band of rain is on that weather front. As it moves east, the rain becomes lighter and more patchy. But it opens the door to a north westerly wind, which will bring in some much cooler and fresher air. Well notice it everywhere i think on sunday. A lot of showers to come for the northern half of the uk. A few showers coming to southern parts of england and wales, temperatures will be 19, maybe 20. Further north, only 14 or 15 for glasgow and also belfast. This is beyond 100 days, with me, katty kay, in washington, david eades is in london. Our top stories. Britains parliament will be suspended for more than four weeks in september just as the brexit deadline looms. Critics say its a constitutional outrage, but the Prime Minister insists its about getting on with the countrys future. Meanwhile Ruth Davidson leader of the scottish conservatives says shes on the verge of quitting. And following the days events, the pound falls nearly 1 against the dollar and euro. Britains parliament will be suspended next month after the queen approved the Prime Ministers request to shut it down temporarily. It means the current parliamentary session will come to an end just days after mps return from their summer break. Theyll be back for the queens speech when the government will lay out its new agenda less than three weeks before brexit. Borisjohnson said the decision was all about moving forward with the countrys future. But its provoked fierce political criticism from all sides. Critcs have called a constitutional outrage and a smash and grab on our democrcy. Our Political Editor Laura Kuenssberg reports. Shutting up shop at the Prime Ministers request. The gates will clang shut here for an extra few days next month. Debates wont take place, mps wont vote or stand in the way of borisjohnson. We are bringing forward a new legislative programme on crime, on hospitals, and making sure that we have the Education Funding that we need. And there will be ample time on both sides of that crucial october the 17th summit, ample time, in parliament for mps to debate the eu, to debate brexit and all the other issues. Ample time. It is not unusual for a new Prime Minister to close parliament for a short while to press reset, to announce a new programme of what they want to do. But its intensely controversial to do it now, because just one former minister told me its a declaration of war, and certainly the first big shot in a fight thats been brewing since Boris Johnson moved into number 10. And the outrage is shared by senior tories, too. At a time of national crisis, Parliament Must be able to meet, to hold the government to account, to represent our constituents, the electorate, up and down the country, and it is profoundly suspending parliament is not acceptable, its not on. What the Prime Minister is doing is a sort of smash and grab on our democracy in order to force through a no deal exit from the European Union. Whats he so afraid of . Hes acting like some kind of tinpot dictator. Frankly, its not acceptable and, if mps dont stop it, then its no exaggeration, its not hyperbole to say this is the day any semblance of uk parliamentary democracy absolutely dies. Even the speaker, who is meant to be impartial, let his fury be shown. He said hed had no contact from the government, but this move represents a constitutional outrage. He went on to say, its blindingly obvious that the purpose of prorogation now would be to stop parliament debating brexit. Ministers are all too aware this is controversial, and wont be surprised by an onslaught of scrutiny. Are we in a constitutional crisis . Sorry, im just going to go. Not exactly all forward about making the case today. But the move was officially sealed with the queen by a trio of conservative privy councillors, who disturbed her majestys own summer recess at her balmoral estate in the highlands today. Are you trying to avoid scrutiny in parliament . No. Certainly not. Are you worried about a legal challenge . This is a completely proper constitutional procedure. All entirely normal, the leader of the commons told us at the airport later. And brexit backers, guess what, back this, too. The Prime Minister is entitled to go to her majesty, the queen, to seek a new queens speech, particularly as a new leader and a new Prime Minister. He wants to set out his domestic agenda, and i dont think theres anything unusual about that. Borisjohnson wants to write himself into history as the Prime Minister who did what it took to get brexit done, but the methods he will pursue to do that could make or break him, too. Laura kuenssberg, bbc news, westminster. And joining us now from our liverpool studio is labour mp for wirral south alison mcgovern. Thank you forjoining us. You dont have very many options to try and stop a no deal brexit. Have very many options to try and stop a nodeal brexit. We do have options and i think in your package there the Prime Minister himself said that he thinks there will be ample time for parliament to debate and the thing is, all of the events today are not really about the niceties of parliamentary democracy. They are about the substance of this issue. That borisjohnson and nigel farage want us to have a no deal brexit that will pull us out of the European Union without arrangements that will make our economy work and to make sure that life can continue as normal as and when exit happens if indeed it does. People like me and my constituents know that will mean Significant Impact on food prices and real consequences for the jobs that my constituents do in manufacturing, so this is about the substance of the issue, a cross party substance of the issue, a cross Party Alliance of mps who say no deal is no way forward and about borisjohnson no deal is no way forward and about Boris Johnson wanting us no deal is no way forward and about borisjohnson wanting us to stop having our say on that, that is what this is about and it is pretty disreputable at the Prime Minister has done. Let me take you back to what she said at the beginning which is that you seem to agree that there will be ample time after Parliament Comes back into session after october the 14th but you have realistically got about ten days to try and find some kind of legislation, get a parliamentary majority through in order to do what, delay the october to deadline . You havent been able to stop this for three years, how can you do it in ten days . We will find time to parliamentary arithmetic in the house of commons has already asserted itself on no deal and said no to no deal on a number of occasions. If the Prime Minister wa nts to occasions. If the Prime Minister wants to have a no deal brexit then the right thing to do is to come to the right thing to do is to come to the house of commons, submit himself to scrutiny and make the case for it. These games dont get us anywhere. It just means, it. These games dont get us anywhere. Itjust means, ever more worry and constituents like mine where people dojobs worry and constituents like mine where people do jobs that rely on our membership of the european Single Market and customs union, so i would simply say to the Prime Minister stopped the game is us what your plan really is and submit yourself to the scrutiny and explain how your plan does not put my constituents jobs at risk. That is your duty as Prime Minister. Boris johnson will obviously refer again to the referendum result and point of the majority of people who want to get out of the European Union. And i raise that to wonder whether actually your best next step is some are calling the Nuclear Issue which is to pursue a vote of no confidence and then hope, possibly hope against hope, that if you were to win that you would find a way to find a ca reta ker you would find a way to find a caretaker Prime Minister to guide you through, is that not your best bus route . All those possibilities are on the table and as we saw yesterday the opposition parties are working together to make sure we have those options available to us. But in the end, it comes back down to the substance of the issue and i com pletely to the substance of the issue and i completely accept that we had a referendum that generated this result. But that was some time ago and since then we have had a general election where the current house of commons was elected and so Boris Johnson has got a duty to come to the current house of commons and say this is my plan and submit himself to scrutiny. There has always been a way to do this on a cross party basis but so far the tory party cant even get itself together to pray within the conservative party how to do this is under no circumstances it is hard to say that result in 2016 should determine every single. The whole of the house is struggling with it, thank you. From one labour mp to a former labour staffer, a short time ago we spoke to tony blairs former Communications Director alastair campbell, whos now campaigning for a peoples vote. The message coming from the government side, really, is that this procedure, like it or not, is completely proper, constitutional procedure. They are playing by the rules. I think that is a very, very far stretch, and i do think that the way that the queen has been used in this, i think people will find that very difficult. I also do think that this is the longest prorogation that i can remember, and we know why they are doing it. Asjohn bercow said in his statement, its blindingly obvious that they are trying to stop mps, the peoples representatives, scrutinising, holding the new Prime Minister to account, so youve got this ludicrous situation. The image that we are portraying to the world is a Prime Minister, an old etonian Prime Minister, elected by two thirds of fewer than 1 of country, the tory membership. He sends up his old etonian mate, jacob rees mogg, on a plane to balmoral to ask the queen to shut down parliament, and this was meant to be about taking back control borisjohnson does also say quite clearly, there will be ample time for mps to debate this. As you mentioned, john bercow is very keen to find the time, one would expect. So they can proceed with that, or, do you think, they go for whats been called the Nuclear Option that is a vote of no confidence, and see if that leads to borisjohnson being kicked out of office . Well, look, there is some time. But lets be clear that same borisjohnson was saying at the weekend that they werent going to Prorogue Parliament, so i dont think we can take a word that he says at face value. Isnt there a broader problem here . Youve campaigned for the last couple of years for a second peoples vote on brexit. But there just hasnt been the same level of passion and unity on the remain side that there has on the leave side, and thats reflected in parliament right now in the fact that they may well not even be able to get a vote of no confidence through. I think theres massive passion on both sides of the argument, and dont forget, we are now on the third Prime Minister. Theresa may had a passion for delivering brexit, but she failed to do it. I think what you are seeing is that one of the problems with this is that there is no form of brexit that looks like its got any chance of bringing the country back together again. You mentioned the referendum. I still believe that, in the end, that is the only way that this is going to get properly resolved. Youve got to admit the chances of that now are very slim, arent they . I dont believe they are, because i think ultimately. Look, if borisjohnson is really prepared to lead the country out into something which a public enquiry would find hes seen the evidence, hes seen the paper that tells him just how bad that would be for our economy, for our public services, for the access to food and medicines and all the rest of it, the chaos that would ensue. If he is prepared to do that, well, he really is a gambler, i think that the public, the british people, they did not vote for this chaos, they did not vote for this mess, and he doesnt have a mandate for no deal. So i still think, in the end, this will have to go back to the people at some point. Alastair campbell, thank you. Lets get some more analysis joining us now is alva rea, Political Correspondent at the new statesman. Thanks forjoining us. Where has this extraordinary die actually got us this extraordinary die actually got us do you think . I think we are all kind of a bit. Certainly mps who are trying to frustrate brexit or no deal had been a bit blindsided today. Yesterday they agreed they would probably take a legislative approach to try to stop any chance ofa approach to try to stop any chance of a new deal and then today the government has hit back and said that they intend to Prorogue Parliament for this period so they have slightly blindsided him and are hoping basically to bounce these mps into making a quick decision which will ultimately play into their hands. Like mike from that point of view you would say anyway if you can look at it after scoring much, Boris Johnson had a good day today. Yes, probably not helped by the news about Ruth Davidson but that is another thing. Basically a legislative approach looked more promising for mps who were hoping to stop no deal than a no confidence vote. Let me pick you up on that. The talk about Ruth Davidson, she says her decision if she decides to announce it tomorrow, is nothing to do with the events of today. Whether it is to do with them or not it is not going to be helpful to the Prime Minister if she goes. Exactly. It sounds as though it is a combination of personal and political reasons but i think somewhere along the line this timing is not a coincidence. I think the announcement was due tomorrow someone as may be think the announcement was due tomorrow someone as may be not too happy with Boris Johnsons announcement and may be decided till they get early at an inopportune time. As a sign of the divisions within the conservative party itself, that this is quite a drastic move and not everyone is entirely co mforta ble move and not everyone is entirely comfortable with it. Ok, thank you for joining comfortable with it. Ok, thank you forjoining us. If there is supposed to bea forjoining us. If there is supposed to be a general election not having Ruth Davidson on site could be problematic. This is beyond 100 days. Still to come shes done it after an epic two week journey across the atlantic, Climate Change activist, Greta Thunberg, has finally arrived in new york. A couple using a metal detector in somerset have uncovered thousands of silver coins dating back to the battle of hastings. Its the second largest find of norman coins ever uncovered in the uk. Among the coins, show the defeated king harold the second. Jon kay reports. Oh my god. Theres pennies everywhere. In a muddy somerset field, the discovery of a lifetime. Beeping. This was the moment metal detectorists found more than 2000 silver coins. Lovely. Today, looking like lottery winners, lisa grace and her partner adam staples, came to inspect theirjackpot. Theyre in fantastic condition. Now, all cleaned up and catalogued at the British Museum in london. Just a fantastic find and i dont think well ever find anything like it again. No, its a dream come true. I think its king harold. Experts say the hold is hugely significant. Half the coins are from the reign of king harold ii. The rest were minted when harold was defeated by william the conqueror at the battle of hastings in 1066. Beeping. Theres another one as well. Lisa, adam and their friends couldnt believe it when their metal detectors just kept beeping. Thats a lot of beeps . Yeah. I bet you were saying a lot of beeps as well, werent you, when it happened . There was a lot of swearing going on. The precise location where the hoard was found is being kept top secret, but its somewhere here in the chew valley. If a coroner declares it treasure, then the landowner and the group of metal detectorists could share a reward, possibly millions of pounds. What are you going to do with the money when it comes . May be buy a house, yeah. May be more than one. Its hoped the hoard will go on display in somerset although at least one private collector also wants to buy it. Jon kay, bbc news. A state of emergency has been declared in the us territory of puerto rico as it braces for a powerful storm. Dorian has intensified into a hurricane and is expected to strengthen even further. There are fears of power cuts and damage from strong winds. President trump has approved an Emergency Declaration which allows us federal agencies to provide disaster relief. The territory is still recovering from the devastation of Hurricane Maria in 2017. Former senator of puerto rico, roberto pratsjoins us now from san juan. Thanks very much indeed forjoining us. Give us a state of play as the hurricane moves in. We have never seen a more erratic hurricane moves in. We have never seen a more erratic fluctuations in the trajectory of a hurricane. 24 hours ago it was a Tropical Storm that was supposed to pass through the south western part of the island. In less than 24 hours is change the trajectory and it is now going to pass through the east, north part of the island, affecting the us virgin islands, British Virgin islands and a few of the smaller islands of puerto rico. Now i hurricane category one, it has been upgraded probably about 20 minutes ago, so we are preparing for lots of rain. This is not harry kane maria or hurricane irma, but it appears to be the new normal in puerto rico during hurricane seasons. We spend almost a decade without hurricanes and now we get hit every year. People are better prepared. Peter best people have been tomic go ahead. Better prepared and seeing the pictures there are people stocking up on water and supplies as they do before every hurricane but the island of course was so hurricane but the island of course was so bettered by maria. As the infrastructure, the electricity and power supply, in a string of state to ta ke power supply, in a string of state to take an a battering from a lesser storm . The infrastructure, particularly the electrical grid in puerto rico is compromised. We will not withstand a Tropical Storm. It is very fragile. The people most concern it is about electricity and losing power after the storm and how long it will take to reconnect the entire island. Bear in mind we lost over 3000 lives during Hurricane Maria and as a result of the lack of power, food, Emergency Assistance and they feared the worst, but i think we are better prepared for the storm. Thank you forjoining us. Climate change activist, Greta Thunberg has arrived in new york and is expected ashore imminently, after sailing across the atlantic ocean. We can show you these are live pictures as her boat sails into harbour. The 16 year old set off from the uk two weeks ago, to attend two Climate Change summits in the us and wanted to travel by sea to minimise her carbon footprint. Ms thunberg has been giving updates of her trip on social media. Early on in the trip she tweeted this photo of herself saying day 2. A very bumpy night but i slept surprisingly well. Some dolphins showed up and swam along the boat last night and overnight, she tweeted a photo in the dark saying land the lights of long island and new york city ahead. Chris buckler is in new york and joins us now. She has just about done it. She hasjust about done it. How is it being received on her arrival . There is a little memory of excitement here. As the ship moved out of the way all of a sudden we saw the sale for the first time just beside the statue of liberty. There are huge numbers out here. You might hear some of them screaming at the moment. Just behind the camera we have a number of young people we are all standing there, crowds of them with signs saying, for example, you are our hero. A bit of a chant of greta is going up as well. She has managed to inspire young people. That is the key thing going into this un summit which will be held next month, there is the deliberate attempt to try and get young people on board in this post to try and tackle Climate Change. If you think about it the United Nations has had World Leaders come and speak year after year but this is a pretty extraordinary reception. We have a flotilla of boats coming out from the un to meet Greta Thunberg to give her a welcome into new york and it gives us sense that they see here as something special. From the chanting you can hear there are people who agree with that here. You can see her there on the front of the boat, standing and looking. She must be relieved. Some of the picture she sent from her trip across the ocean were pretty terrifying. There were huge waves she encountered off nova scotia and very rough weather. There has been some criticism back in the uk that the fact that although she has made the fact that although she has made the gesture of coming over without flying going by selling but, some crew now have to fly over themselves in order to take the boat to europe. Is any of that being heard there or are they just thrilled is any of that being heard there or are theyjust thrilled to see her . To be honest with you, the people who have come out here in new york city are the people who want to welcome Greta Thunberg. There are people who are preparing for this climate strike action, the School Strike that is being planned for next month, they are all very excited. Youre right to mention a criticism because of course this wasnt presented as a zero carbon journey, to try to say she was going to come to new york only because she could do it by not damaging the environment and there have been claims that there will be crew members who fly in to the us in order to return the boat. There also a question about how she will get back to europe. She has to travel to chile because she is planning to attend a conference in santiago. At the end of the year. But actually you get the real idea from all of those online maps in which you can track your progress, from all of the social media posts, but actually a great part of this journey was about selling that message about trying to say that this could be done and that people should be doing what they could to try and deal with environmental problems. To see if they can look at their own carbon footprint. You have to say that whether youre critical of this journey or not there is no doubt that it has been very successful in that it has been very successful in that goal of attracting publicity. Yes, and her tweeting as she came across the atlantic racing, she had said she was going to dock at 245, she is ten minutes late. We can give her a bit of leeway that is the trouble with winds. Before we go, lets have another look at that online petition we showed you earlier which opposes the suspension of the uks parliament. The numbers have risen. I was hoping to put your estimate first put do not far off. You still have another one minute so it might go up a bit more. I went for 845,000, so i didnt get that quite right. More. I went for 845,000, so i didnt get that quite rightm more. I went for 845,000, so i didnt get that quite right. It says something. Full disclosure, idid didnt get that quite right. It says something. Full disclosure, i did a bit of the maths. It says something that in the course of a day, they set upa that in the course of a day, they set up a petition and, lets be honest, as we know very well this is a polarising issue, one half will a lwa ys a polarising issue, one half will always go for it on the other want, but nonetheless. I think if we set up but nonetheless. I think if we set upa but nonetheless. I think if we set up a petition on the other side of the argument we would have just about the same amount of people supporting it, in the same timeframe, given that it is the division. But that is the political debate this country has been brought by brexit i can think, i suppose he would go back to the poll tax that has got people quite so exercised by what is going to go one in the country. We will see if tomorrow is a calmer day on the news front but we will both be back with you on the news front. We will see you tomorrow. Bye for now. No sign of temperature is returning to the low 30s over the next few days. More cloud and rain. There we did get the sunshine and temperatures rose to around about the mid 20s and thatll be a figure that we will see again i think the south eastern parts of the uk. Always going to be better for the north and west. Still some rain to clear away from east anglia and the south east of england as we head towards midnight. That will eventually move away and then clearer skies following from most areas. As the breeze picks up we blow in more cloud to Northern Ireland and western scotland but a cooler night. Noticeably so it was a south east adds it has been so warm and muggy over the past three nights. A more co mforta ble past three nights. A more comfortable start on thursday. It will tend to cloud over moore. One or two showers out towards the west but with the stronger wind putting in more showers to Northern Ireland and particularly into scotland, longer spells of rain in the north west. Temperature 17 in the central belt of scotland to a high of 20 pour around london. Windier and wetter weather towards the north west of the uk, but wary of low pressure and the weather front hanging around following it all the atlantic will have waves and ripples in it, enhancing the rainfall. A Conveyor Belt of cloud and rain affecting Northern Ireland and rain affecting Northern Ireland and much of scotland throughout friday, over the irish sea at listing went on to be a few showers into wales. For the midlands on the southeast with south westerly winds it will be quite warm especially when the sun comes out. Further north we will have cloud and rain which will continue overnight and into saturday. It could be as much as four inches of rain over the hills of dumfries and galloway. That rain still around on saturday which clears away from Northern Ireland. The round barn pivots into wales and questioning them. Still dry Eastern England but those temperatures still into the mid 20s. Muscular as we head further north and west. A sign of what is to come. That band of rain is on the weather front there as it moves eastwards around and it becomes lighter and patchy put it opens the door to a north westerly wind that will bring some much cooler and fresher air. We notice that everywhere on sunday. A lot of sellers to come for the northern half of the uk. A few showers coming into southern parts of england and wales. Temperatures will be 19, maybe 20. Further north only 14 or 15 for glasgow and also from belfast. This is bbc news, im geeta guru murthy. The headlines at 8. The queen approves the suspension of parliamentjust days after mps return to work in september which could deny mps the time to try to stop a no deal brexit. The Prime Minister insists that proruoging parliament would not prevent mps playing their role in the Brexit Process. 340 new legislative programme and making sure that we have the Education Funding that we need and will be ample time on both sides of that crucial october the 17th summit, amplified in parliament for mps to debate