Million+ Britons demand ‘do not prorogue parliament’ in viral petition aimed at Johnson

Over one million people have signed a petition against suspending or dissolving the British parliament unless Brexit is cancelled or delayed. It has gained traction after UK PM Boris Johnson pushed to prorogue the legislature.

The petition was launched on August 15, but has seen a boost of popularity after Queen Elizabeth II granted Johnson’s request to prorogue the parliament until October 14, a mere two weeks until the Brexit deadline set for Halloween.

The now-belated petition calls for Johnson to not prorogue or dissolve the Parliament “until the Article 50 period has been sufficiently extended or the UK’s intention to withdraw from the EU has been cancelled.”

The document quickly crossed both 10,000 signature mark – the threshold required for the British government to formally respond to the petition – and the 100,000 signatures needed for the parliament to consider the issue for a debate.

While the petition paves way for a parliamentary debate, this is now practically wishful thinking as the parliament will remain shut down until the middle of October. That leaves the MPs with almost no time to react to whatever new planes to streamline Brexit Johnson might come up with, let alone hold a debate on the issue that cannot be changed.

Johnson’s decision to move ahead with the long-rumored parliament suspension has drawn a fierce backlash from opposition lawmakers and Tories alike, accusing Johnson of staging a ‘coup’ of sorts.Though anticipated, the move has not struck a chord with the British public either. A new YouGov poll has found that only 27 percent of Britons backed the month-long suspension.

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