’If that’s their excuse’

Picking one of the excuses offered so far, a former House of Commons procedural clerk explains why a two-month break isn’t necessary.

One of the Conservative government’s given reasons for proroguing was to obtain a majority on Senate committees, which can only be reconstituted by resetting Parliament. But Mr. Hall said the timing of the Prime Minister’s decision doesn’t necessarily fit with that objective.

"If they wanted to reset the Senate committees, if that’s their excuse, all they had to do was prorogue just before Parliament comes back and then start the new session a day or two later. It would have still killed all the legislation, but if their excuse was well we had to do this because of the Senate, well you don’t have to do it for two months," he said.