The High Court has ruled that Boris Johnson’s advice to the Queen to prorogue Parliament for five weeks in the run up to the Brexit deadline was unlawful, so MPs are back at Westminster and it’s as if they never left at all.
As for Brexit itself, before Parliament was prorogued MPs passed a law that ruled if there is no deal agreed with the EU by 19th October the Prime Minister must request an extension of three months to the 31st October deadline. However, that does not mean the EU will accept another extension, and Foreign Secretary Dominic Raab has stated that the Prime Minister plans to follow the law but push to the limits what that law actually means.
If Boris were to refuse to request an extension, he could face legal action in the civil courts, which would certainly trigger a vote of no confidence and a general election. While he still insists that we will leave the EU on 31st October no matter what, MPs are desperately trying to stop him pushing through a No Deal scenario. That said, a more detailed plan muted at this weeks Conservative Party Conference in Manchester could see a deal in the offing. However, all 27 EU member states will need to agree on any deal, as will Parliament if it is to have any chance of being passed.
It seems that a general election is inevitable and, if that is the case, it is likely that Boris would campaign heavily for a No Deal Brexit and lose a lot of MPs in the process as they defect to the Lib Dems. Like Theresa May before him, Boris seems to forget that voters care about things other than Brexit!
