The Day Brexit Hit Boiling Point

Available for over a year

MPs weren’t even supposed to be in Westminster. But when the Supreme Court ruled Boris Johnson’s prorogation of Parliament to be unlawful, suddenly they were thrown back into the bear pit. Then, Brexit was in limbo, Boris Johnson could not get the election he sought and opposition MPs were passing laws against the government’s wishes. And the court’s ruling tipped MPs over the edge. Parliament was labelled ‘dead as dead can be’, the prime minister was called a tin-pot dictator and MPs spoke of fears to their safety because of Boris Johnson’s language. Carolyn Quinn looks back, one year on, at the vicious and vitriolic parliamentary exchanges of 25 September 2019 during one of the most bitter periods in British political history. We speak to former cabinet ministers and key players from the day and then Speaker John Bercow on their reflections and insight from behind the scenes. Producer: Laurence Sleator