‘Welcome to the 17th Century’, Sir Simon Schama slams Parliament suspension

Prominent historian Sir Simon Schama criticised Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s bid to suspend Parliament as a return to “the 17th Century” on Wednesday.

Schama shared a link to a BBC News story containing Johnson’s letter to MPs, in which the PM detailed plans to suspend Parliament until October 14th as the October 31st Brexit deadline looms.

Schama’s tweet, sent at around noon, contained the accompanying words: “Welcome to the 17th Century everyone”.

The Queen approved Johnson’s request to prorogue parliament, which critics argue will restrict the time available for Brexit opponents to intervene.

House of Commons speaker John Bercow, who is Jewish,  said the move was a “constitutional outrage”.

His remark was criticised by Simon Johnson, CEO of the Jewish Leadership Council, who expressed concern in a tweet sent from his personal account.

Meanwhile, Louise Ellman, the MP for Liverpool Riverside, tweeted that the move to suspend parliament was “an affront to democracy.”

She wrote: “It is a disgrace that elected MPs are being prevented from scrutinizing the PM’s high risk policy of taking us out of the EU without a deal.”

Luciana Berger, the independent MP for Liverpool Wavertree, added: “Just no. It’s the #PeoplesParliament. And as we said yesterday this would be a historic constitutional crisis.”