Talking to various figures in Government today, it is clear that Boris Johnson’s team want the choice for MPs to be between their Brexit strategy and making Jeremy Corbyn prime minister. They believe that ultimately there aren’t enough MPs prepared to make Corbyn prime minister; meaning that they’ll get to carry out their Brexit strategy.
The decision to prorogue Parliament is designed, in large part, to limit the amount of time available to the opposition to find a legislative way to force the Government to seek an extension.
At the same time, it also sends a message about how hard forcing Boris Johnson to request an extension will be. If he is prepared to prorogue Parliament in this way, then it is difficult to imagine him simply complying with legislation requiring him to seek an extension. He could, as I say in the magazine tomorrow, simply ask for it in such a way that the EU was bound to say no.
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