The Guardian view on proroguing parliament: an affront to democracy

[Ghost Dog]

2. (UK) Murky powers and revolutions (and other archaic peculiarities)

(Hey, if the USA can be the exceptional nation, at least let no-deal England be the peculiar one!)

https://theconversation.com/mps-are-threatening-to-barricade-themselves-in-if-boris-johnson-prorogues-parliament-heres-why-they-should-be-taken-seriously-122591

... The use of these prerogative powers, once exercised by a monarch to “get around” the tiresome practices of a democratic practice, have never been effectively repealed. They lurk behind the scenes until such an occasion as this and now reside in the hands of the executive. However, monarchs were enjoined to understand that they were used, even in the past, with extreme caution. When they were not, they could inspire dramatic and revolutionary reactions.

In March 1629, Charles I grew tired of a parliament which would not support financially, or otherwise, his disastrous and expensive foreign policy errors and ordered the dissolution of parliament. The MPs were so incensed when speaker John Finch announced the closure of the session, they promptly left their seats and sat on him. Holding him in the chair meant that he could not rise from his seat, and thus close the house. While he writhed under at least five members, the MPs passed a series of motions condemning the king’s policies. It may well be that this should be considered a valid response to Johnson’s actions. On the other hand, as the current speaker, John Bercow, has called Johnson’s decision a “constitutional outrage” it seems unlikely that he will need sitting on. The closure of parliament in 1629 led to ten years of extra-parliamentary rule in England and Wales – known variously as Charles I’s Personal Rule or the 11 Years’ Tyranny.

The Scots rejected the king’s use of executive power in November 1638 when he tried to close down Scottish assemblies as well. No one was sat upon: this time his representative, the Marquis of Hamilton, tried to close the assembly by leaving the chamber. The door was locked against him: the key hidden. This time the meeting did not end: the king’s powers were severely dented. When the Westminster parliament again met in 1640, it was because the Scottish crisis had led to two wars, both of which Charles I’s extra-parliamentary government lost and bankrupted. Despite again using his prerogative powers to close the first parliament of 1640 after just three weeks, it got worse. The second parliament called that year passed two acts intended to secure its position in the constitution. The Triennial Act of February 1641 ended a monarch’s right to summon parliaments: a later act prevented one from closing or proroguing a parliament without its consent. Were this still the case, Johnson would not be able to get a majority to back prorogation.

This act made it impossible for the king to use his prerogative power to prorogue or close parliament. Not surprisingly, the Edinburgh parliament had already done the same thing. With the breakdown in trust between parliament and the executive across the British Isles, revolution followed and the monarchy fell a few years later...

What followed was the English Civil War.

... The outcome of the war was threefold: the trial and execution of Charles I (1649); the exile of his son, Charles II (1651); and the replacement of English monarchy with, at first, the Commonwealth of England (1649–1653) and then the Protectorate under the personal rule of Oliver Cromwell (1653–1658) and briefly his son Richard (1658–1659). In England, the monopoly of the Church of England on Christian worship was ended, while in Ireland the victors consolidated the established Protestant Ascendancy. Constitutionally, the wars established the precedent that an English monarch cannot govern without Parliament's consent, although the idea of Parliamentary sovereignty was only legally established as part of the Glorious Revolution in 1688.[2]

Boris Johnson just restarted the English Civil War. It will not end well

Do we really want to go back to the 17th century, asks Fleet Street Fox
https://www.mirror.co.uk/news/politics/boris-johnson-civil-war-19021739

... We are about to get a crash course in the English Civil War, with the exciting possibility that some of us will learn what living in the 17th century was really like. Then, Cavaliers and Roundheads spent 9 bloody years slaughtering a tenth of the population in a row about whether or not the King was in charge. After another 40-odd years of bitter argument, not helped by the fact a king was rendered 8 inches shorter than nature intended, we had a Glorious Revolution and laws for a constitutional monarchy, under which we have been united ever since.

But Ireland was destroyed. The Army stopped MPs entering Parliament. Millions suffered with starvation and disease as a small nubbin of zealots on both sides battled it out with sword, cannon and proto-propaganda. It is worth noting that the opponents each claimed to be on the side of "the people". And journalists may wish to note that pro-Royalist and pro-Roundhead publications were used to spread fake news - both sides declared victory at the Battle of Naseby in 1645. Throw forward to pro-Brexit papers proclaiming a "new deal" with the EU, while others say it's the same one we've voted down three times already.

Now that Boris Johnson has announced a longer-than-usual closure of Parliament we can expect a fervently Brexity MP to start quoting Oliver Cromwell when he dismissed the Rump Parliament of 1653. "It is high time for me to put an end your sitting in this place... ye are a factious crew, and enemies to all good government... You who were deputed here by the people to get grievances redressed, are yourselves become the greatest grievance," he thundered. "Take away that shining bauble there, and lock up the doors. In the name of God, go!"

He'd have a point, if he were to see what Parliament has done with Brexit. It has voted to leave, voted down a deal, voted down not having a deal, voted down not leaving. In future, it will be known as the Plughole Parliament, because it has gone around in ever-decreasing circles...