https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-49495757
Short summary, the British government just asked the queen to suspend parliament for 5 weeks, until the 14th October. It's important to note that the queen isn't allowed to say refuse to such requests, so in reality what we mean is that the government, under Boris Johnson, has temporarily suspended parliament.
According to Michael Gove, who has acted as government spokesperson on this issue, this suspension is to allow the government and PM to address domestic policy. However, the timing is, to put it mildly, extremely questionable, since the planned date of the UK's withdrawal from the EU is the 31st October. Now obviously, I cannot tell you with total certainty that Gove is lying, but the incredibly obvious motivation one could see for this suspension would be to prevent parliament from mounting any kind of opposition to no-deal Brexit.
The thing is, whether or not this is the motivation (spoiler: it is), it is going to be the effect, and one with fairly chilling consequences for democracy in the UK. This whole thing has been described as a coup, and that's not without justification since it essentially represents the executive unilaterally trying to shut down the legislature to prevent oversight. However, I also don't think that's the main issue here. The truth is, we're not quite at Emperor Palpatine stage yet, but there is a broader context in which this is merely the latest part of an ongoing attack on the supremacy of parliament within the British political system in the wake of Brexit, and that supremacy of Parliament is the essence of British democracy. Boris Johnson, our prime minister, has openly stated that he intends to run the next general election on a "people vs. parliament" program, which sounds great, but now we're getting an insight into what that means. In short, it means a strong, authoritarian, executive-driven government claiming to represent the "will of the people", even when pushing through policies which will literally kill people.
In fact, I think part of why this is so important even if you don't live in the UK is that it completely puts paid to the idea that populism is anti-authoritarian. Populism as an ideology is deeply authoritarian, and we should always be wary of it. It's no surprise to see other authoritarian populists (like a certain US president) come out in support of what is essentially a temporary end to democracy.
Of course, if the suspension of democracy becomes routine, at what point are you not living in a democracy any more?
Short summary, the British government just asked the queen to suspend parliament for 5 weeks, until the 14th October. It's important to note that the queen isn't allowed to say refuse to such requests, so in reality what we mean is that the government, under Boris Johnson, has temporarily suspended parliament.
According to Michael Gove, who has acted as government spokesperson on this issue, this suspension is to allow the government and PM to address domestic policy. However, the timing is, to put it mildly, extremely questionable, since the planned date of the UK's withdrawal from the EU is the 31st October. Now obviously, I cannot tell you with total certainty that Gove is lying, but the incredibly obvious motivation one could see for this suspension would be to prevent parliament from mounting any kind of opposition to no-deal Brexit.
The thing is, whether or not this is the motivation (spoiler: it is), it is going to be the effect, and one with fairly chilling consequences for democracy in the UK. This whole thing has been described as a coup, and that's not without justification since it essentially represents the executive unilaterally trying to shut down the legislature to prevent oversight. However, I also don't think that's the main issue here. The truth is, we're not quite at Emperor Palpatine stage yet, but there is a broader context in which this is merely the latest part of an ongoing attack on the supremacy of parliament within the British political system in the wake of Brexit, and that supremacy of Parliament is the essence of British democracy. Boris Johnson, our prime minister, has openly stated that he intends to run the next general election on a "people vs. parliament" program, which sounds great, but now we're getting an insight into what that means. In short, it means a strong, authoritarian, executive-driven government claiming to represent the "will of the people", even when pushing through policies which will literally kill people.
In fact, I think part of why this is so important even if you don't live in the UK is that it completely puts paid to the idea that populism is anti-authoritarian. Populism as an ideology is deeply authoritarian, and we should always be wary of it. It's no surprise to see other authoritarian populists (like a certain US president) come out in support of what is essentially a temporary end to democracy.
Of course, if the suspension of democracy becomes routine, at what point are you not living in a democracy any more?