Boris Johnson is entirely right not to resign as prime minister

The prime minister suffered a devastating verdict in the highest court in the land, which ruled that his five-week prorogation of Parliament was illegal. But the context of the decision is crucial to assessing this saga.

Mr Johnson used an unorthodox measure to try to regain the initiative from MPs. But this is because MPs have themselves stretched the constitution to breaking point, assisted by the Speaker John Bercow.

Extraordinarily, MPs have tried to seize the prerogative of government to have control of the legislative timetable.

Mr Bercow at every stage of this drama has openly assisted anti Brexit MPs. His own tactics have never been subject the scrutiny of Supreme Court justices.

At the same time, disgracefully, the Labour Party has thwarted a general election, which would be an obvious way to break the impasse, and let voters decide who should be in Downing Street at this time of national emergency.

Jeremy Corbyn’s position of demanding such an election while refusing it for now is an abuse of the Fixed Term Parliaments Act, which prevents Mr Johnson from calling such a poll in the absence of the support of three quarters of MPs.

Meanwhile, a law passed by MPs in effect forces Mr Johnson either to seek a delay to Brexit (which the EU could grant on its own terms) or accept whatever deal the EU offers.

This must all be put to the country, yet it can’t.

It is wrong to hound the prime minister’s legal advisors when the three most senior non Supreme Court judges in the land — the Lord Chief Justice, Master of the Rolls and President of the Queen’s Bench Division — unanimously agreed with that advice, that the prorogation was unlawful.

The prime minister deserves full support at this critical time, as he tries to figure out how to secure an election.