The United Kingdom's Supreme Court ruled on Tuesday that prime minister Boris Johnson had acted unlawfully when he advised Queen Elizabeth to suspend parliament weeks before Brexit – and that therefore the suspension was void. Here are some reactions to the ruling:
Liberal Democrat leader Jo Swinson
“This confirms what we already knew – Boris Johnson isn’t fit to be prime minister. He’s misled queen and country, and unlawfully silenced the people?s representatives. I’m on my way to resume my duties in the Commons and stop Brexit altogether.”
Speaker of parliament John Bercow
“As the embodiment of our parliamentary democracy, the House of Commons must convene without delay. To this end, I will now consult the party leaders as a matter of urgency.”
Opposition Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn
“It demonstrates a contempt for democracy and an abuse of power by him. ... I will be in touch immediately (with the speaker) to demand that parliament is recalled so we can question that prime minister, demand that he obeys the law that has been passed by parliament and recognise that our parliament has been elected by our people to hold our government to account. A Labour government would want to be held to account. I invite Boris Johnson in the historic words to consider his position.”
Activist Gina Miller, one of the people who brought the legal action
“Crucially today’s ruling confirms that we are a nation governed by the rule of law, laws that everyone, even the prime minister, is not above. MPs should turn up for work tomorrow and get on with scrutinising this government.”
Scottish National Party’s Westminster leader Ian Blackford
“This is an absolutely stunning judgment by the Supreme Court today, none of us anticipated that we would have a result such as this. We must be back in parliament immediately, I know the speaker is going to be talking with all the party leaders, we want to get back to work and quite frankly on the back of this Boris Johnson must resign.”