Labour MP says he will ‘occupy’ parliament if Boris Johnson goes ahead with prorogation

Labour MP Clive Lewis. Photograph: Neil Perry. - Credit: Archant

A Labour MP has said police would need to remove him from the House of Commons if parliament was suspended ahead of a no-deal Brexit.

Clive Lewis made the comment after the government asked the Queen to suspend parliament next month.

In a tweet the Norwich South MP said: “If Boris shuts down parliament to carry out his No-Deal Brexit, I and other MPs will defend democracy. The police will have to remove us from the chamber. We will call on people to take to the streets. We will call an extraordinary session of parliament. #peoplesparliament.”

If prorogation goes ahead, plans to pass anti no-deal legislation will be unlikely before the October 31 deadline as during shutdown no laws can be passed and parliamentary debate is put on hold.

Lewis said a “robust” response to the threat of prorogation was needed to lessen its likelihood – even if that meant a sit-in in parliament.

He added: “There are a number of ways to contest this, some legal and some physical. A physical protest, by which I mean staying in parliament, would be symbolic. And I’m sure I, and many others, would do this.”

MORE: Labour MP calls for ‘peaceful protest and civil disobedience’ if parliament prorogued

He also said a suspension would “short-circuit” and “hack” democracy, after calling the government’s plans “fundamentally wrong”.

He said: “There are longer term implications for our democracy if Boris Johnson goes ahead with this. It will set an awful precedent and is part and parcel of potentially chipping our democracy away.

“Boris Johnson is looking for the easiest option to achieve what he wants to do. He can’t win fairly and squarely so he’s doing it through denying Parliament opportunity to legislate. He has no right to do that.”