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In a speech to the Centre for European Reform, Sir John suggested the government could try to bypass the Benn Act by issuing an executive Order in Council.That does not require the permission of the Queen, and could potentially suspend the law until after October 31.'I should warn the Prime Minister that - if this route is taken - it will be in flagrant defiance of Parliament and utterly disrespectful to the Supreme Court,' Sir John said.'It would be a piece of political chicanery that no-one should ever forgive or forget.' 

In a speech to the the Centre for European Reform, Major said he feared Boris Johnson could try - via the privy council - to bypass the Benn Act by suspending it until after 31 October.He said: My fear is that the government will seek to bypass statute law, by passing an order of council to suspend the act until after 31 October.It is important to note that an order of council can be passed by privy councillors – that is government ministers – without involving Her Majesty the Queen. I should warn the prime minister that – if this route is taken – it will be in flagrant defiance of parliament and utterly disrespectful to the supreme court. It would be a piece of political chicanery that no one should ever forgive or forget. Major also accused Johnson of “wilfully” destroying the prospects of cross-agreement on Brexit with his Commons onslaught on the opposition. We’ll be mopping up all the reaction to Major’s speech and covering the other political developments today.

Tidigare har det funnits en informell pakt mellan parlamentets två stora politiska grupper, kristdemokratiska EPP och socialdemokratiska S&D, att inte ge sig på varandras kandidater. I och med att parlamentet blev mer splittrat efter valet är den tiden förbi, enligt forskaren Agata Gostyńska-Jakubowska.

Boris Johnson’s spokesman has insisted the government does not recognise a plan that Sir John Major warned could be used to circumvent the Benn Act, which is aimed at forcing the prime minister to seek a Brexit extension. ...Major had said he feared the government would try to bypass the act through an order of council. “It is important to note that an order of council can be passed by privy councillors – that is government ministers – without involving HM the Queen,” he told the Centre for European Reform think-tank.

Former Conservative prime minister Sir John Major has criticised Mr Johnson and warned that a "general election would solve nothing" in the Brexit crisis.Mr Johnson has been calling for an early general election, but under the Fixed-term Parliaments Act he needs the support of two-thirds of MPs. He has twice failed to achieve this.Speaking to the Centre for European Reform, Sir John said an election "would merely fuel the current feeling of disillusionment and disunity".

Former Prime Minister and Remain campaigner Sir John Major gave a speech saying he believed the plan was to “bypass Statute Law, by passing an Order of Council to suspend the Act until after 31 October.” He told attendees at a Centre for European Reform event, held at the Spanish Embassy: “It is important to note that an Order of Council can be passed by Privy Councillors – that is Government Ministers – without involving HM The Queen.”

Boris Johnson could resort to "political chicanery" to bypass a law designed to stop a no-deal Brexit, Sir John Major has claimed. He said the Prime Minister could use a so-called "Order of Council" to avoid implementing the legislation until after 31 October.Sir John said Mr Johnson could carry out the move through the Privy Council, meaning Parliament would not be able to block it.That way, the PM could meet his "do or die" pledge to have the UK out of the EU by Hallowe'en.

One of the more creative attempts to solve this problem was published this week by the redoubtable Sam Lowe of the Centre for European Reform. In Big Sam’s proposal, the CBT would be linked to the costs of buying carbon permits under the EU’s emissions trading scheme. A foreign exporter to the EU would have to pay a border tax equivalent to the cost of buying emissions permits to produce the same good inside the Single Market.