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Queen Elizabeth II Wednesday formally gave approval to Prime Minister Boris Johnson to suspend British parliament.

Hundreds of people protested in London as the move was seen by many as an effort to prevent lawmakers from pushing through new legislation and ultimately sabotaging the prospect of a no-deal Brexit.

Hours after the statement was announced, a petition calling on the government not to prorogue parliament was launched by Mark Johnston, a pro-EU campaigner from Reigate in Surrey.

The text of the petition reads: “Parliament must not be prorogued or dissolved unless and until the article 50 period has been sufficiently extended or the UK’s intention to withdraw from the EU has been cancelled.” See live update

Few hours after it was launched, the petition attracted more than 100,000 signatories, passing the threshold to be considered for a debate in parliament.

In less than 24 hours, the petition passed the 1 million-mark. In some remain-backing areas more than 5% of constituents had signed, according to a map attached to the petition. They included parliamentary seats in Edinburgh, Glasgow, London, Sheffield, Cambridge, Oxford, Bath, Brighton and Bristol.

Pro-EU campaigners accuse the Prime Minister Boris Johnson of ‘constitutional outrage’ over the move to prorogue parliament. They allege that it means MPs are unlikely to have time to pass any laws that could stop him taking the UK out of the EU without a deal on 31 October.

The Prime Minister insisted it is ‘completely untrue’ he chose to suspend parliament over Brexit. He argued it was because his government was getting ready to introduce new legislation on education, crime and healthcare.

But House of Commons speaker John Bercow said it is ‘blindingly obvious’ that the purpose of suspending parliament would be to stop a debate on Brexit.