Lady Hale brooch-inspired T-shirts fly off the shelves
Lady Hale brooch-inspired T-shirts fly off the shelves with one eBay seller flogging seven THOUSAND in less than 24 hours as Twitter users hail ‘Spider woman’ after Supreme Court ruling
- Lady Hale inspired the sale of a T-shirt with a spider on – similar to her brooch
- Balcony Shirts created the design and have sold nearly 7,000 since yesterday
- Twitter users have praised Lady Hale for her inspiring choice of accessories
Social media users have praised Lady Hale and her spider brooch after the T-shirts with the insect printed on them sold out.
Baroness Hale, 74, appeared on TV screens across the country yesterday as she delivered the Supreme Court’s written judgement that Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s decision to suspend Parliament was illegal.
Following her appearance, one eBay seller managed to flog nearly 7,000 of the T-shirts, which cost £10, with 30 per cent of the profits going to homeless charity Shelter.
Twitter users have now hailed Baroness Hale as ‘Spider woman’ with many others trying to de-code the message behind the brooch.
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Lady Hale (pictured above) as she delivers the supreme court ruling that Boris Johnson’s advice to the Queen to suspend Parliament for five weeks was unlawful
The T-shirt (pictured above) is made by London-based company Balcony Shirts and was inspired by Lady Hale
Twitter users have praised Lady Hale after she wore a spider brooch. The brooch inspired the sold out T-shirt
Other Twitter users took to calling Lady Hale ‘spiderwoman’ after she wore the brooch yesterday
Her wearing the brooch has lead to many people creating rhymes in homage of the accessory.
It also inspired the T-shirt, made by London-based Balcony Shirts, which is a black with the spider on the shoulder.
One Twitter user said: ‘span a web of Brexit lies; But Lady Hale saw through his disguise.
‘He’s toast! Thanks to the spider brooch.’
The comments come shortly after Mr Johnson cut his trip to New York short, following the verdict by the Supreme Court and Jeremy Corbyn’s calls for him to apologise to the Queen.
Other social media users claimed that the brooch was a dig at the Prime Minister and how he is ‘hanging by a thread’.
Another user tweeted: ‘Lady Hale’s broach an interpretation: Look, he’s crawling up my wall Black and hairy, very small Now he’s up above my head Hanging by a little thread Boris the spider Boris the spider.’
Some also commented how ‘spiders can weave webs, but can also destroy them’, while others said they had named their house spiders after Lady Hale.
Paul Kleiman said: ‘Our resident house spider now has a name. We now address her as ‘M’Lady Hale’, and we are grateful for her protection and stout defence of our house’.
Dozens took to Twitter to praise the gem-encrusted spider brooch – while others posted snaps of other pieces in the judge’s collection. Highlights include a caterpillar (left) and a frog, as seen right during an appearance at the Supreme Court in October 2017
In the speech, the first female President of the Court told her audience how important it is that judges, to remain true to their oaths of office, remain willing to stand up to governments
Balcony Shirts, the creators of the sold out product tweeted today and said they had raised over fifteen thousand pounds for charity.
‘I would like to thank you all, sincerely, for an extraordinary day. We’ve raised over FIFTEEN THOUSAND POUNDS for Shelter’.
Sales of the T-shirt come after Lady Hale along with 11 justices ruled that Mr Johnson had been ‘unlawful’ when he decided to prorogue Parliament for five weeks.
Before they made their decision, the court first ruled that the court had the power to rule in the case – that the decision to prorogue Parliament was ‘justiciable’. They pointed to a court ruling from 1611 that the King ‘hath no prerogative but that which the law of the land allows him’. The High Court of England and Wales ruled the exact opposite earlier this month.
Following the decision, ministers are expected to propose a short recess from later this week to allow for Tory Party conference next week.
If MPs refuse, Mr Johnson could prorogue again. He may also want to do that anyway to allow for a new Queen’s Speech, to announce new legislation.
The ruling represents a major set back for Mr Johnson, pictured in New York yesterday, he said he believes the court made the wrong decision
Today Mr Johnson touched down in the UK after cutting his trip to New York short following the verdict.
Mr Johnson will run the gauntlet of Parliament this evening – after a series of other statements by ministers.
A No10 source took a similarly hard line last night, suggesting the court had ‘made a serious mistake in extending its reach to these political matters’.
‘Further, the Supreme Court has made it clear that its reasons are connected to the parliamentary disputes over, and timetable for, leaving the European Union. We think this is a further serious mistake,’ they told the BBC.
Mr Johnson accused the court of siding with Remain campaigners to ‘frustrate Brexit’, although he was careful to say that he ‘respected’ the court’s judgment.
What happens now the Supreme Court has ruled Boris Johnson’s suspension of Parliament was unlawful?
Following the Supreme Court ruling, Speaker John Bercow delivered a statement in which he said the House of Commons will resume today at 11.30am.
This is what may happen next in the coming days with anti-Brexit factions plotting how to derail the Prime Minister’s plan to leave the EU on October 31.
There are growing rumours that Labour may shy away from calling a no confidence vote with critics calling them ‘bottlers’.
Instead Mr Corbyn’s may try to force the PM to release the formal advice given to Attorney General Geoffrey Cox to ascertain if he warned Mr Johnson not to do it.
Some Tories including Rory Stewart are said to be pushing Boris to put Theresa May’s deal back to Parliament.
Will Boris Johnson resign?
The Supreme Court’s ruling is highly embarrassing for Mr Johnson and puts the PM in completely uncharted territory.
The fact that he was found to have acted unlawfully represents a hammer blow to his premiership and has unsurprisingly prompted calls for him to quit.
Jeremy Corbyn, the Labour leader, pounced immediately after the ruling was read out as he said the PM must now ‘consider his position’.
Meanwhile, Nicola Sturgeon, the SNP leader and Scottish First Minister, said a premier with ‘any honour would tender his resignation’.
She said that if Mr Johnson will not do the ‘decent and honourable thing’ then MPs should try to force him out.
But Mr Johnson responded to the ruling by insisting he was right and the judges had got their decision wrong.
He had previously said that he had no intention of resigning if the court ruled against him and based on his hardline comments today that position has not changed.
Will the PM now face a vote of no confidence?
The possibility of an imminent confidence vote is receding.
The responsibility for seeking a vote rests with Mr Corbyn as the leader of the opposition, and he has said it will not happen until after the ‘threat of No Deal is taken off the table’.
Opposition leaders rejected Mr Johnson’s demands for an early election earlier this month because they did not want to go to the country before a No Deal Brexit has been ruled out.
But an anti-No Deal law is now on the statute book while rules relating to the holding of general elections dictate that there must be a 25 day campaign period.
That means any election caused by toppling Mr Johnson would not take place until after October 31 – and after the PM has been required by law to ask the EU for a Brexit delay should no agreement have been struck.
It is important to remember that the UK must always have a prime minister: Even if Mr Johnson lost a vote of no confidence and resigned he would be expected to stay in post until a replacement has been chosen or elected.
Could a vote of no confidence succeed?
Any vote would likely be tight. Mr Johnson would expect to count on the support of the overwhelming majority of Tory MPs although today’s Supreme Court ruling could make some think long and hard about backing the PM.
Mr Johnson would also likely be backed by a number of Labour Brexit-backing MPs and the DUP.
On the other side, if Mr Corbyn was to launch a push to get rid of Mr Johnson he would likely only do so if he believed all the other opposition parties were on board.
Lib Dem sources have suggested they could now back a vote of no confidence while the SNP would leap at any opportunity to boot out Mr Johnson.
The parliamentary arithmetic means that the result could ultimately come down to how a group of 21 Tory rebels who were stripped of the whip by the PM after backing the anti-No Deal law would vote.
If they decided to vote with the opposition Mr Johnson would be in big trouble.
What happens if Mr Johnson loses a vote of no confidence?
Convention dictates that he should resign as PM. But Downing Street has suggested before that even if he did lose a confidence vote he would not walk away and would instead try to dissolve Parliament and force an election.
That really would be uncharted territory. If he lost and the government falls as it is supposed to there would then be a 14 day period in which MPs could try to form another administration.
That could be the point at which the Remain alliance tries to put together a cross-party unity government with one task: To delay Brexit beyond October 31 in order to avoid a No Deal split.
What does the Supreme Court ruling mean for Brexit?
It does nothing to change the fact that the UK is still due to leave the EU on October 31.
But crucially it gets Remainer MPs back in the game. When Parliament was suspended MPs and peers were sidelined from the Brexit process.
With Parliament sitting again they will be able to challenge the government and, should they believe it is necessary, try to seize control of proceedings as they did when they passed anti-No Deal legislation.
Could Boris Johnson try to prorogue Parliament again?
Yes. The PM hinted that he could do so when he responded to the Supreme Court ruling.
When the PM first suspended Parliament he did so with the argument that he needed time to prepare a Queen’s Speech in which his new government would set out its domestic legislative plans.
That speech had been scheduled to take place on October 14 but today’s ruling puts that date in doubt.
Mr Johnson today said the government will likely try again to bring forward a Queen’s Speech but it was not immediately clear whether the PM will try to stick to the current October 14 date.
Mr Johnson said the Supreme Court ruling did not ‘exclude the possibility of having a Queen’s Speech’ in the near future.
Lady Hale had said during her ruling this morning that a ‘normal period necessary to prepare for the Queen’s Speech is four to six days’. That suggests Mr Johnson could try to prorogue Parliament in the first week of October in order to keep to his previous timetable.
Convention dictates that Parliament must be prorogued – and the parliamentary session formally brought to a close – before a Queen’s Speech can take place to kick off a new session.
What about the Conservative Party conference?
The Tories are due to meet in Manchester next week but Mr Bercow’s decision to resume Parliament throws a grenade into their plans.
The Conservatives have said they will go ahead as planned with the four day event from Sunday until Wednesday.
It is thought ministers will try to get Parliament’s approval tomorrow for a short conference recess to allow the get together to go ahead. But the chances of MPs voting to go back to recess immediately after Parliament’s doors have been reopened appear slim.
If the Commons rejects the proposed recess then the Tories will almost certainly have to amend their plans: The leader’s speech is due to take place on Wednesday at the same time as PMQs and Mr Johnson cannot be in two places at once.
What has the EU made of all of this?
The European Commission declined to comment today on what it described as the ‘internal constitutional matters’ of the UK.
But Brussels will be closely monitoring developments in London as Westminster tries to work out what happens next.
The last EU summit before Brexit is due to take place on October 17 and Brussels is still waiting for the UK to make a formal offer on how to break the current impasse. The bloc will be waiting to see whether today’s chaos focuses minds or if it leads to further meltdown.
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