Protesters accuse British prime minister of essentially staging a coup

After British Prime Minister Boris Johnson decided to suspend Parliament on Wednesday, protesters started gathering in London, Manchester, Edinburgh, Liverpool, Cambridge, and other major cities, with many describing this move as tantamount to a coup.

Parliament was scheduled to start up again next week following a summer break, but Queen Elizabeth II, who refuses to get involved in politics, approved Johnson's request to suspend Parliament until mid-October, giving lawmakers a limited amount of time to prevent a no-deal Brexit.

This angered opposition leaders, including Amelia Womack, deputy leader of the Green Party. She joined demonstrators in London, and told The Guardian she was standing with them because the United Kingdom has a "representative democracy and by suspending Parliament, you are removing people's democratic right."

Subscribe to The Week

Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

SUBSCRIBE & SAVE

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.

Sign up

Thousands of people are estimated to have attended the protests, carrying pro-European Union and anti-Johnson signs, with many sharing their fears about a no-deal Brexit. This worry was echoed in a leaked government report and by 25 bishops from the Church of England, who wrote in an open letter they are afraid a no-deal Brexit would create "economic shocks" that hurt the poor.