Boris Johnson would trigger a legal and constitutional crisis that would force his resignation as prime minister if he failed to obey a law mandating him to seek another extension to Brexit, according to high-level legal advice obtained by Labour.
The conclusions of a team of leading QCs, which have been sent to the shadow Brexit secretary, Keir Starmer, make clear that the prime minister would be declared in contempt of court if he tried to remain in No 10 while refusing to obey legislation to prevent the UK leaving the EU without a deal on 31 October. The new law is expected to gain royal assent from the Queen early next week.
The legal advice, from lawyers at Matrix Chambers, says: “If the prime minister refused to comply with this order, then, while we would be in historically uncharted political territory, the legal position would remain clear – the prime minister would be in contempt of an order of the court and would be exposed to a full range of sanctions.”
One of the QCs who provided the unequivocal advice, Philippe Sands, told the Observer: “If the prime minister chooses not to comply with EU (Withdrawal) No 6 Act, he will be subject to an action for contempt which could, logically and as a matter of last resort, lead to imprisonment, but that has never happened and will not happen; Britain is a rule of law country, so he will comply or leave office. All other talk is bluster, as attorney general Geoffrey Cox will already have advised him.”
But Lord Macdonald, the former director of public prosecutions, warned Johnson that he could end up in prison. “It is convention that if you are found guilty of defying a court order, then you are jailed,” he said. [...]
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