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Do you support Boris’s decision to suspend Parliament?

In a dramatic move on Wednesday morning, Britain’s new Prime Minister Boris Johnson set in motion the suspension of the UK Parliament – which means MPs have much less time to debate Brexit, the process of the UK leaving the European Union.

Mr Johnson spoke to the Queen on Wednesday morning to request an end to the current parliamentary session – a process known as prorogation.

Parliament is to be suspended for five weeks ahead of 31 October, the day the UK is due to leave the EU.

People who want the UK to remain in the EU are calling it a coup – and even some in favour of Brexit have criticised the move.

“There will be ample time on both sides of that crucial October 17 summit, ample time in Parliament for MPs to debate the EU, to debate Brexit, and all the other issues,” Mr Johnson said.

Opposition leaders have written to the monarch in protest and Commons Speaker John Bercow said the move was a “constitutional outrage” designed to stop Parliament debating Brexit.

Thousands of people have protested against plans to suspend Parliament in rallies in London, Edinburgh and other cities within hours of Boris Johnson announcing the plan.

At Westminster, crowds blocked traffic and some staged a sit-down protest in Parliament Square chanting “stop the coup” while others headed for Downing Street.

There were also impromptu demonstrations planned in Edinburgh, Cardiff, Manchester, Bristol, Cambridge and Durham after the Queen approved an order that will see Parliament suspended for more than a month.

Shadow home secretary Diane Abbott told protesters outside Parliament: “At the end of the day, it doesn’t exactly matter where you stand on Brexit, it matters where you stand on Tory prime ministers closing Parliament because they don’t want to give people a say.

“If this was a Latin American country it would be called a coup, complete with American president publicly backing it. We have to stop this coup, not just for Parliament but for this country’s future and for our children’s future.”

Shadow chancellor John McDonnell told the protesters: “The message is simple, whatever side you’re on in the debate around Brexit, the message is absolutely simple here, we’re supposed to be a democracy, and that democracy is meant to be a parliamentary democracy.

“They have taken away the decision. We think the decision that Boris Johnson is frightened of is Parliament itself taking control of the agenda next week and they’re not allowing us the opportunity.

“By closing Parliament down, it effectively closes democracy down in this country.”

What are your views? Do you support Boris’s decision to suspend Parliament? Is this a wise move?

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