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Johnson wants to shut down Parliament next week to avoid being defeated by MPs trying to prevent a damaging No Deal Brexit.

But the issue is now much more important than Brexit.

This is about a dictator attempting to seize control of our political system.

Generations of ordinary people showed real courage and made huge sacrifices to secure the right to govern our country through a Parliamentary democracy.

We will see next week whether these count for anything any more.

We will see if we still live in a democracy.

If we allow Johnson to ride roughshod over Parliament this time, what happens next time he faces defeat?

We all know that you have to stand up to bullies and so that’s what MPs from all the political parties should do.

This isn’t about party politics or Left or Right. It’s about what’s right or wrong.

Nobody is fooled by Johnson’s antics.

It’s blindingly obvious that he is preparing for a general election. When he proves to be incapable of negotiating a decent Brexit deal with the EU leaders, he wants to call an election and blame MPs and the EU.

He’ll blame anyone but himself.

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His election plan is why next week he’s making spending announcements on the NHS, education and policing.

It’s the typical Tory gimmick of making big statements with a huge fanfare.

Then within days we discover they are not worth the paper their press releases are written on.

The Tories have been caught out already on their NHS spending claims, which are largely re-announcements of existing funding.

And teachers have already warned that the money for schools is nowhere near enough to make up for the funds the Tories have cut from their budgets.

After nine useless Tory years, people have had enough. The Tories have had their chance. It’s time for change. Labour is the change we need.