Britons denounce Boris ‘coup’

LONDON, UK (AFP) — Protesters wielding pro-democracy placards and European Union (EU) flags rallied on Saturday in dozens of British cities against Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s controversial move to suspend parliament just weeks before Brexit.

In the biggest demonstration, thousands of whistle-blowing, drum-banging people gathered raucously outside the gates of Downing Street in London chanting “Boris Johnson shame on you!”

“I’m absolutely disgusted by what’s happening here,” said attendee Maya Dunn, 66, a Dutch citizen living in Britain, who accused Johnson of “riding roughshod over everybody.”

The demonstrations come ahead of an intense political week in which Johnson’s opponents will go to court to block his move to suspend parliament from mid-September and legislate against leaving the European Union without an agreement.

Johnson, who only came to power in July following a Conservative Party leadership election, hit out at the prospect in a newspaper interview published Sunday.