Boris Johnson has detonated a bomb under the constitutional apparatus of the United Kingdom. The prime minister’s request to the Queen to suspend parliament for up to five weeks, ostensibly to prepare a new legislative programme, is without modern precedent. It is an intolerable attempt to silence parliament until it can no longer halt a disastrous crash-out by the UK from the EU on October 31. The seat of British democracy, long admired worldwide, is being denied a say on the most consequential decision facing the country in more than four decades. So, too, are the British people — in whose name Mr Johnson claims to be acting. It is time for parliamentarians to bring down his government in a no-confidence vote, paving the way for an election in which the people can express their will.
鲍里斯•约翰逊(Boris Johnson)在英国宪政机构下引爆了一枚炸弹。这位首相假借准备一项新的立法计划的名义，请求女王批准长达五周的议会休会期，这在英国现代史上是史无前例的。让议会不能发声、直至其不再有能力阻止英国于10月31日灾难性跌出欧盟，是一种令人无法容忍的企图。英国的民主政体长期受到全世界尊敬，而议会作为英国民主政体的中心，在国家面临40多年来最重大的决定之际被禁声。被禁声的还有英国人民——约翰逊号称以他们的名义行动。是时候由议员们通过不信任投票推翻他的政府，为举行让人民表达意愿的大选铺平道路。