Harrow politicians share their mixed reactions to the announced parliamentary suspension.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced yesterday (August 28) that a five-week Parliament suspension will take place from around mid-September until October 14, where the Queen Speech will lay out Mr Johnson’s Brexit agenda in the House of Lords.

The Parliament suspension will take place shortly after MPs return to Parliament on September 3. After their autumn recess on October 14, MPs will return with less than three weeks before October 31 – the day the UK is set to leave the EU.

Bob Blackman, conservative MP for Harrow East, welcomed the Prime Minister’s decision. He said: "The Prime Minister has my full support - any individual politicians or political parties who seek to thwart negotiations and weaken the UK's position should be wary of any such moves.

“Parliament has failed to make progress in over three years since the referendum as a direct result of petty posturing by opposition parties.”

Mr Blackman added: "Now is the time to move forward and have a Queen's Speech and any agreement or deal would be debated and voted on by the House."

Gareth Thomas, Labour MP for Harrow West, instead opposes the move to suspend Parliament and delaying further discussions about the Brexit deal. Mr Thomas said: “It was a shocking and scandalous decision, by Boris Johnson, to prorogue Parliament and done quite deliberately to avoid scrutiny of his Brexit plans.”

Cllr Graham Henson, the leader of Harrow Council, also criticised the Prime Minister’s move, saying that leaving the EU without a deal would be a “disaster” for Harrow.

Cllr Henson said: “It’s outrageous that the Government has chosen to bypass parliament in order to pursue a no-deal Brexit for which it has no mandate.

“This is a dangerous attack on democracy and goes against the very spirit of the leave campaign which promised to enhance parliamentary sovereignty.

“As I have said before, a no deal Brexit would be a disaster for people and business in Harrow and the wider country.”

Despite concerns, cabinet minister Michael Gove has stated that the suspension was not a political move to obstruct opposition of a no-deal Brexit.

Regardless, the decision sparked a backlash with mass protests outside parliament and across the country, alongside a petition with more than a million signatures opposing the decision.

Legal challenge against the suspension is unlikely to succeed as the Government has not broken any laws with the suspension.