The Supreme Court rules that parliament has not been prorogued

In a dramatic decision, the Supreme Court has ruled that the prorogation of parliament was unlawful and that the Speaker of the House of Commons and the Lords Speaker should bring parliament back at their convenience. John Bercow has already said that parliament should return as a matter of urgency.

The Supreme Court verdict is a massive constitutional moment. The judges have ruled that the issue of prorogation is justiciable, which the High Court deemed it not to be. They have also declared that the order in council which led to the prorogation was unlawful and so that parliament hasn’t actually been prorogued. In other words, that prorogation never happened.

What is, perhaps, most surprising is that this verdict is unanimous. The expectation in both legal and political circles was that this would be a close decision with a sizeable chunk of the court dissenting from whatever judgement was reached.

This decision is a considerable blow to Boris Johnson.