MPs return to parliament after prorogation deemed unlawful
Published: 15:28, 25 September 2019
Updated: 15:44, 25 September 2019
It was as if nothing had changed when MPs returned to parliament today and resumed where they had left off.
The Speaker John Bercow blew the whistle for the start of hostilities and the Attorney General Geoffrey Cox set about trying to defend the government's position on prorogation in the face of angry opposition MPs complaining about the way the whole matter had been conducted.
In feisty exchanges and increasing rowdiness Mr Cox delivered a rousing defence of the government and taunted the opposition benches for their unwillingness to back calls for a general election.
And it appears the suggestion the Conservatives will seek to push for a poll is a serious one - with Gillingham and Rainham MP Rehman Chishti leading the calls.
It is designed to put the opposition on the backfoot - Labour says it wants one won't back one unless a no-deal Brexit is taken off the table but the real block is on the Conservatives, who do not have a majority in parliament to achieve what they claim to want.
And actually the Conservatives would probably prefer not to have one despite saying they do.
As for Boris Johnson, while opposition parties are calling for him to quit, the truth is that they would probably prefer him to stay - a wounded and discredited PM makes for a target exposed on several flanks.
Yes, it's business as normal.
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Paul Francis