Boris Johnson ordered to publish secret no-deal Brexit plans to suspend parliament

Reuters

• UK prime minister Boris Johnson ordered to release private communications between his advisers on the plan to suspend parliament.
• Johnon's opponents believe the suspension - the longest in modern times - is designed to prevent members of parliament from blocking a no-deal Brexit.
• Members of parliament also voted for Johnson to release his confidential no-deal Brexit plans.
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Boris Johnson has been ordered to release all internal communications sent by his senior officials on the decision to suspend Parliament.

The House of Commons is due to be suspended on Monday evening for over a month in the longest suspension in the modern era.

Members of Parliament voted by 311 votes to 302 for a motion demanding that the UK prime minister release all private correspondence between senior officials on the subject, including by his chief of staff Dominic Cummings.

Johnson's opponents believe that the suspension - which will last until mid-October - was specifically designed to prevent MPs from preventing the government from taking the UK out of the EU without a deal.

The UK is currently due to leave the EU on October 31 and the prime minister has insisted that he will take Britain out with or without a deal.

MPs last week passed a law compelling Johnson to seek a three month delay to Brexit if he has failed to secure a deal with the EU by the planned exit date.

However, Downing Street insists that the prime minister will not comply with this order, with Johnson saying last week that he would rather "die in a ditch" than seek an extension.

The motion also orders the government to release all documents relating to its preparations for a no-deal Brexit.

Excerpts from the report titled 'Yellowhammer' have been leaked to the press in recent months, but never released in full.

A senior government source indicated that ministers would refuse to comply with parliament's order.

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