The United Kingdom Parliament will be suspended for a month from around mid-September after Prime Minister Boris Johnson asked Queen Elizabeth II to do so before the October 31 deadline for Brexit, BBC reported on Wednesday. Johnson said the session will be suspended a few days after MPs return from summer recess next week and would resume only on October 14 for the Queen’s speech.

The Parliament will not be in session from around September 10, which meant there would be just a week between the MPs’ return and the suspension. The suspension would leave no time for the Parliament to block no-deal Brexit from happening. The United Kingdom would leave the European Union immediately in a no-deal situation with no agreement about the procedure.

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Tory MP Dominic Grieve called the decision an “outrageous act” and cautioned that it could lead to a vote of no confidence, saying that the “government will come down”, BBC reported.

Johnson refuted allegations that the suspension had anything to do with forcing the no-deal and said that he did not want to wait till after Brexit to get on with “plans to take this country forward”. “We need new legislation. We’ve got to be bringing forward new and important bills and that’s why we are going to have a Queen’s Speech,” Johnson was quoted as saying.

Shutting down Parliament, known as prorogation, has stirred up a controversy with critics saying that it would stop the MPs from taking part in the Brexit process. Several high profile figures, including former Prime Minister John Major, threatened to take legal recourse.

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Meanwhile, the pound sterling plunged on Wednesday after the announcement that the Parliament would be suspended. The currency, which was already trading low, extended its loss to hit $1.21 – a six-day low, Reuters reported. The pound also weakened against the euro to 91.26 pence, lowest in about a week.

Johnson, who took charge as Britain’s prime minister in July, had promised that the United Kingdom would leave the European Union on October 31 “no ifs, no buts”.

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