Zack and Jenn are joined by Vox foreign writer Jen Kirby to talk about UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s decision to “prorogue” Parliament — meaning suspend it for five weeks — during the runup to the October 31st Brexit deadline. They explain how this is an obvious maneuver to prevent Parliament from blocking a no-deal Brexit, and then break down what Parliament could do in response, and how all of this represents a serious challenge for British democracy.

Here’s Jen Kirby’s explainer on the whole proroguing controversy.

We mentioned that the UK government’s own analyses suggest a no-deal Brexit would be a disaster for the UK.

And here’s a link to our past episode “The looming Brexit catastrophe” on what a no-deal Brexit could mean for Britain.

The UK House of Commons Library has a good summary of how proroguing normally works.

Here’s more on how the opposition Labour Party was planning to thwart Johnson before all this happened.

Here’s a member of Johnson’s Conservative Party, Dominic Grieve, calling Johnson’s move "tantamount to a coup against Parliament."

We referenced this BuzzFeed article about possible ideas Johnson has floated to try to force Brexit through.

Business Insider has a good piece explaining the debate about how involved the queen should get in all this.

Hosts:Jennifer Williams (@jenn_ruth), Senior Foreign Editor, VoxZack Beauchamp (@zackbeauchamp), Senior Correspondent, VoxAlex Ward (@AlexWardVox), National security reporter, Vox

More to explore:Subscribe for free to Today, Explained, Vox’s daily news podcast to help you understand the news, hosted by Sean Rameswaram.

About Vox:Vox is a news network that helps you cut through the noise and understand what's really driving the events in the headlines.

Follow Us:Vox.com Newsletter: Vox Sentences 

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices