UK Govt to ask the Queen to suspend Parliament to deliver Brexit

With the clocking ticking on Brexit, it looks like PM Boris Johnson is making some desperate measures. The government is all set to ask the Queen to suspend Parliament just days after MPs return to work in September and a few weeks before the Brexit deadline. Boris Johnson's admin is likely to make way for a Queen's speech, to explain to the people regarding the government's plan on October 14. Prorogation or suspending of parliament, would not give MPs enough time to create a law that could prevent the prime minister from taking the UK out of the EU without a deal.

In the meantime, EU told PM Boris Johnson that Britain will be solely to blame if it crashes out of the EU in a chaotic “no-deal” Brexit. EU countries have challenged Johnson to come up with workable alternatives to the “Irish backstop” arrangements that he insists must be changed and Juncker used a phone call with the British leader to insist the bloc would not be to blame if things fall apart.

Johnson is adamant the withdrawal agreement struck by May — rejected by his lawmakers three times — is dead in the water and changes must be made, particularly on arrangements for the border between EU member Ireland and British-ruled Northern Ireland.

Johnson as of on July 26, said that it is the job of the parliament to get this thing done. He also said that he was "marginally more optimistic" about striking a new Brexit deal. Johnson said that "I think it's what the people want, I also think, by the way, it's what our friends and partners on the other side of the Channel want — they want it over."

Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn in the meantime had said that he would call for a vote of no confidence to prevent a no-deal Brexit and Johnson responded by saying that, “One of my many missions in life is to protect the people of this country from the appalling consequences of a Labour government."

Opposition MPs have condemned moves to suspend the parliament. Labour deputy leader Tom Watson tweeted that the move was an "utterly scandalous affront to our democracy".effects of lingering smoke in the Amazon are beginning to be seen in Brazil as citizens are saying that respiratory problems, particularly among children and the elderly, have increased as fires in the region rage.

“They have problems breathing. I'm concerned because it affects their health,” she added.

The number of people treated for respiratory issues increased sharply in recent days at the local Cosme e Damia Children's hospital.

“This period has been very tough. The dry weather and the smoke causes many problems on children, such as pneumonia, coughing and secretion," said Daniel Pires, a paediatrician and the hospital's adjunct-director. 

 At the G7 summit in France this week, participant nations pledged to help fight the flames and protect the rainforest by offering USD 20 million, in addition to a separate USD 12 million from Britain and USD 11 million from Canada.

But Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro, a far-right climate sceptic refused aid before finally accepting it. Bolsonaro who took office with a promise to boost development in Latin America's biggest economy was also recently accused of illegal felling of trees for logging.

Others said in an open letter that the government's discourse and measures are leading to a “collapse in federal environmental management and stimulate environmental crimes inside and outside the Amazon”.

Mona Lisa Pereira, an agronomist, said, "Germany had already been helping through NGOs and they couldn't prevent this," Pereira said. 

While many of the recorded fires this year were set in already deforested areas by people clearing land for cultivation or pasture, Brazil government figures show that they are much more widespread this year, suggesting the threat to the vast Amazon ecosystem is intensifying.

"We've seen that (Porto Velho) has been taken over by smoke, so inhaling those antigens and pathogens can harm the whole city's population," Ana Carolina Terra Cruz, a specialist in pulmonary illnesses, told the state government website.

On Tuesday, some clouds and a blue sky were partly visible in the Porto Velho morning light. But by the afternoon, the haze had again settled, with smoke so thick that it darkened the usually blazing sun. Pereira, the agronomist, said that smoke was "everywhere." "It's bad for everyone," she said. "Not just our children."