In Countdown To Brexit, Boris Johnson¡¯s Suspension Of Parliament Has Sparked Outrage. But What It Means For UK?

The finance chief of Britain's main opposition Labour Party John McDonnell has threatened to call a vote of no confidence in Boris Johnson's government and would welcome the chance of a general election after the UK government challenged opponents of Brexit in Parliament to collapse the government or change the law if they wanted to thwart Britain's exit from the European Union.

"Let me make it absolutely clear, and this is a personal message to Boris Johnson: 'Bring it on'," John McDonnell said after a speech in London.

A demonstrator, wearing a mask depicting Britain's Prime Minister Boris Johnson, and a mock gravestone inscribed with the words 'RIP British Democracy' protests outside the gates to Downing Street in central London on August 28, 2019. AFP PHOTO

Johnson's manoeuvre gives his political opponents even less time to prevent a chaotic no-deal Brexit before the Oct. 31 withdrawal deadline. But the decision outraged critics and is serving as a unifying force for the disparate opposition, who have confirmed they will press on with measures to block a departure from the European Union without a deal despite Johnson's actions.

Thousands gathered waving EU flags and placards to express their anger. Smaller rallies took place in other towns and cities while 25 bishops from the Church of England released an open letter about their worries about the ¡°economic shocks'' of a no-deal Brexit on the poor and other vulnerable people, news agency AP reported.

Leader of the Scottish Conservatives Ruth Davidson faces the media as she arrives for a press conference in Edinburgh, Scotland, to announce that she has resigned as leader of the Scottish Conservatives. AP PHOTO

Legal challenges loom. Lawmakers already are asking a Scottish court to rule that suspending Parliament is illegal. Businesswoman Gina Miller, who won a ruling in the Supreme Court in 2017 that stopped the government from triggering the countdown to Brexit without a vote in Parliament, has another legal challenge in the works. House of Commons leader Jacob Rees-Mogg dismissed the fury and described Johnson's move as constitutional and proper.

¡°I think the outrage is phony and it is created by people who don't want us to leave the European Union and are trying very hard to overturn the referendum result and don't want the benefits of leaving the European Union,'' he told the BBC.

¡°This is completely constitutional and proper,'' he said. "There is going to be a lot of time to debate before October 31.''

Demonstrators hold placards as they protest on Whitehall, near the entrance to Downing Street in London on August 28, 2019. AFP PHOTO

The move has prompted ruptures across the political spectrum, including among members of Johnson's Conservative Party. Scottish Conservative leader Ruth Davidson, who has differed with Johnson in the past, resigned on Thursday.

The outpouring of fury followed three years of tensions after the 2016 referendum on EU membership, in which 52 per cent of voters favoured withdrawing.

The European Union, in the meanwhile, is adamant that it will not renegotiate the agreement struck with former Prime Minister Theresa May on the terms of Britain's departure and the framework of future relations. Without such a deal, according to AP, Britain faces a chaotic Brexit that economists warn would disrupt trade by imposing tariffs and customs checks between Britain and the bloc, send the value of the pound plummeting and plunge the U.K. into recession.

An anti-Brexit protestor releases colored smoke, outside the Houses of Parliament in London. REUTERS PHOTO

Theresa May had resigned in defeat after failing -- three times -- to secure Parliament's backing for her divorce deal with the bloc.

Johnson has told European officials that it won't be possible to agree a deal on Britain's departure from the bloc without the removal of controversial language on a ¡°backstop'' aimed at avoiding the return of a border between EU member Ireland and Britain's Northern Ireland.

With Inputs from Agencies