Katy Balls Katy Balls

How will Raab’s prorogue comments play out with Tory MPs?

To prorogue or not to prorogue? That’s the question dividing the Brexiteer candidates today following the One Nation conservative hustings. After Boris Johnson, Andrea Leadsom and Sajid Javid on Tuesday all ruled out proroguing Parliament in order to achieve a no deal Brexit in the event that MPs tried to block one, Dominic Raab used his appearance on Wednesday night to tell a group of MPs that he would not rule out suspending Parliament to bring about the UK’s exit from the EU – with or without a deal.

Proroguing Parliament is what happens at the end of every parliamentary session. In terms of Brexit, the theory goes that a way to stop MPs blocking Brexit through votes would be for a prime minister to simply suspend Parliament and send MPs home until the UK had left the EU. As Parliament is technically ‘prorogued’ by the Queen, some argue such a move would be a constitutional issue that would involve the monarchy in politics.

Now Raab’s position is something he has been hinting at for some time. When I interviewed him for The Spectator last week and pressed him on the issue, he replied: ‘I’m not going to get into the tactical machinations’. However, he was clear that he would use what ever tools were available to the government to ensure the UK leaves the EU at the end of October. Raab’s confirmation on Wednesday that it’s something he won’t rule out is likely to please members of the European Research Group. Rees-Mogg has previously suggested that he thought the government ought to prorogue if it was the only way to deliver Brexit on time. ERG members are still deciding which Brexiteer candidate to back – and Raab’s decision to go further than Johnson on this issue could seal the deal for some of its members.

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