Minister resigns as Tory whip saying he is unhappy with PM’s motivation for shutdown

Boris Johnson has suffered his first ministerial resignation, as George Young quit the Tory front bench in the Lords over the PM’s decision to suspend parliament in September.

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Lord Young was a minister in Margaret Thatcher’s government – and, as Lord Young of Cookham, he served in the Conservative-Liberal Democrat coalition government as chief whip.

Young, in his resignation letter as a government whip in the House of Lords, said he was “very unhappy at the timing and length of the prorogation, and its motivation.”

He added: “While not agreeing with the hyperbole of some critics, I have been unpersuaded by the reasons given for that decision, which I believe risks undermining the fundamental role of parliament at a critical time in our history, and reinforces the view that the government may not have the confidence of the House for its Brexit policy.”

He said he was not the part of any “remainer plot”.

Johnson stunned many at Westminster on Wednesday when he received the permission of the Queen to prorogue parliament from mid-September to 14 October.

The prime minister insisted the move was simply aimed at paving the way for him to pursue his domestic political agenda.

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But it was widely seen as an attempt to curtail rebel MPs’ opportunities to scupper the prospect of a no-deal Brexit. They now face a race against time, with MPs expected to sit for little more than a week before they break for the party conferences.

They hope to pass a bill that could force Johnson to extend article 50 if he fails to strike a new Brexit deal with the EU27 in time for exit day on 31 October.

If that process is not complete before parliament is prorogued, the legislation would fall, and MPs would have to start from scratch in the narrow window between 14 October and Brexit day.

Johnson’s decision sparked fury, with the Speaker of the House of Commons, John Bercow, calling it a “constitutional outrage”.

The leader of the House of Commons, Jacob Rees-Mogg, dismissed the criticisms on the BBC Radio 4 Today programme on Thursday, calling them a “candyfloss of outrage”.