London: A prominent Indian-origin anti-Brexit campaigner said Sunday that she will take the government to court if British Prime Minister Theresa May's successor attempts to suspend Parliament to take Britain out of the European Union (EU) without a deal.
Gina Miller, who had mounted a successful legal challenge to prevent May triggering Brexit without Parliament's approval back in 2017, has said she is
ready for another legal battle to establish parliamentary supremacy.
Miller's team has issued a legal letter of warning to Boris Johnson, the frontrunner in the prime ministerial leadership contest, who has refused to rule out the prospect of proroguing Parliament in order to meet the October 31 Brexit deadline.
"It would seriously undermine parliamentary sovereignty for you, as Prime Minister, to prorogue Parliament to prevent it from considering whether to legislate to prevent a no-deal Brexit," reads the letter issued by law firm Mishcon de Reya, representing Miller and her campaign team.
"You would be closing the doors of Parliament to prevent it from legislating on the most important political issue of the day, when time is of the essence. In such circumstances it would be unlawful for you as Prime Minister to advise Her Majesty to prorogue Parliament for the purpose of preventing Parliament from considering the enactment of a law to stop the UK leaving the EU without a deal," it adds.
The letter follows a similar warning to Johnson of legal action from former Conservative Party leader and Prime Minister John Major, a supporter of UK foreign secretary Jeremy Hunt in the race for Downing Street.
While Hunt has ruled out prorogation of Parliament to prevent Britain's MPs blocking no-deal Brexit, former UK foreign secretary Johnson has declined to do so.
"I have never been a fan of Brexit but that is completely separate, completely different, from defending the central pillar of our Constitution," Miller told Sky News in a television interview on Sunday.
"We think that it's beyond the Prime Minister's powers because parliamentary sovereignty is actually the jewel in the constitutional crown,"
she said.