Brexit: Supreme court begins hearing case over Johnson’s suspension of parliament – live news
Rolling coverage of the day’s political developments, including day one of the supreme court hearing to decide on claims the suspension of parliament was unlawful
- Johnson’s suspension of parliament ‘unlawful abuse of power’
- Johnson likely to lose court case, says Labour
- Cressida Dick criticises PM over speech to police recruits
Here is my colleague Owen Bowcott’s story about the opening of the supreme court prorogation case.
Related: Johnson’s suspension of parliament ‘unlawful abuse of power’
Boris Johnson’s motive for proroguing the Commons for five weeks was “to silence parliament for that period”, the supreme court has been told at the opening of an emergency appeal.
The prime minister’s extended suspension of debate was carried out for an “improper purpose” in order to “avoid the risk of parliament undermining the policies of his executive”, said Lord Pannick QC, who was representing the businesswoman and legal campaigner Gina Miller.
Boris Johnson spoke to Angela Merkel, the German chancellor, this morning, Downing Street has said. They spoke about Saudi Arabia and Iran, but also about Brexit. According to Number 10, this is what was said on that topic.
On Brexit, the prime minister reiterated that the UK and the EU have agreed to accelerate efforts to reach a deal without the backstop which the UK parliament could support, and that we would work with energy and determination to achieve this ahead of Brexit on 31 October.