Now Government has silenced Parliament in Westminster we will hold a People’s Parliament in Newcastle
On Monday, in the middle of the greatest constitutional crisis of modern times, the Government shut down Parliament for five weeks. Chi Onwurah, MP for Newcastle Central, believes this is Government trying to silence Parliament and prevent her from doing her job and raising the issues her constituents care about.
As Chi said in Parliament yesterday, her constituents expect her to be in Parliament, working for them.
But this Government is afraid democratic scrutiny will highlight their incompetent handling of Brexit, as they threaten to ignore the rule of law and push towards their desired outcome of the No Deal cliff edge.
This outrageous move was described as not “a normal prorogation” and an “act of executive fiat” by the Speaker John Bercow.
Chi said:
“Government silenced MPs to stop us raising the issues you care about. They can’t be allowed to get away with this. I’ve always said Parliament should move to Newcastle, now I’ll hold a People’s Parliament in Newcastle so people can tell me what we should be debating right now. “
“Everyone will be welcome, whatever your party, however you voted in the referendum, whatever you think the most important issues are – Climate Change, the NHS, Education. I want to hear them.”
Ms Onwurah believes Government should not be able to shut down debate so she will host a ‘Peoples Parliament’ in Newcastle on Sunday 29th September (the start of the Conservative Party Conference) at Northern Stage in Newcastle at 1pm. All are welcome to come along and share their views on the prorogation, Brexit, and what they think Parliament should be talking about over the coming weeks.
Ends
Notes for Editors:
- The debate from the 9th September where the Speaker summed up the prorogation: https://hansard.parliament.uk/Commons/2019-09-09/debates/F22B450C-0F24-4C12-9A99-DA6634DA779D/MessageToAttendTheLordsCommissioners
- This tweet has a video of Chi speaking in the House debate yesterday: https://twitter.com/ChiOnwurah/status/1171463609014054914?s=20
- And this tweet a video announcing a People’s Parliament in Newcastle: https://twitter.com/ChiOnwurah/status/1171464204731076610?s=20
- Details of the Peoples Parliament in Newcastle will be published on Chi’s website: https://chionwurahmp.com/