Protesters accuse British prime minister of essentially staging a coup

Protesters in London.
(Image credit: Daniel Sorabji/AFP/Getty Images)

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.

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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.

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Catherine Garcia, The Week US

Catherine Garcia has worked as a senior writer at The Week since 2014. Her writing and reporting have appeared in Entertainment Weekly, The New York Times, Wirecutter, NBC News and "The Book of Jezebel," among others. She's a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.