MP After Court Ruling on UK Parliament: 'Utterly Vindicated'

On Tuesday, the UK's Parliament began five weeks of "proroguing"—the technical term for suspension without dissolution, mandated by Prime Minister Boris Johnson. Now, with Brexit looming at the end of October, a new development out of Scotland: Its highest civil court has deemed Johnson's move unlawful, the BBC reports. The three Court of Session judges unanimously agreed Wednesday that Johnson had misled Queen Elizabeth in a push to suspend Parliament that was motivated by an "improper purpose," as a "tactic to frustrate Parliament." The ruling overturns an earlier decision by another Court of Session judge last week.

Attorneys for 75 opposition MPs and others had argued that Johnson's maneuver was an undemocratic one simply meant to squelch debate on Brexit, whose deadline of Oct. 31 is fast approaching, the Guardian reports. On Tuesday, Johnson scoffed at allegations that what he was doing was unconstitutional, noting during a visit to a London school, "[Give me a] break. What a load of nonsense," per the Metro. His government plans on appealing the Scottish court's ruling to London's Supreme Court, the final court of appeal in the UK. "We feel utterly vindicated and I would be confident that the UK Supreme Court will uphold this decision," Scottish National Party MP Joanna Cherry said after the Court of Session ruling, per the BBC. (More Brexit stories.)