A DEMONSTRATION will be held in Reading town centre on Saturday to protest against the government proroguing parliament. 

The ‘Stop the Coup’ demonstration will start on the west end of Broad Street at 12pm. 

It follows a similar protest on Tuesday outside the town hall. Around 150 people gathered to hear speeches from councillors and campaigners. 

Councillor Sarah Hacker (Labour, Battle) and Cllr Ricky Duveen (Lib Dem, Tilehurst) both gave speeches to the crowd on Tuesday. 

Protesters held placards saying: “No Boris, you can’t”, “Defend democracy, stop the coup”, and “Boris Johnson, Elizabeth Windsor, you don’t represent us”. 

Cllr Hacker said: “It’s important to exercise your democratic right to protest. By shutting down parliament, your MP won’t have a chance to have their voice heard.” 

The government will prorogue parliament next week; many people believe this is to stop MPs from preventing a no deal Brexit, although the government refute this. 

The suspension of parliament will last until October 14, constraining MPs’ ability to shape the Brexit process. 

Parliament has not been prorogued by a government as a way of getting round parliamentary opposition to government policy since 1948, according to the Institute for Government.

MPs’ ability to scrutinise the government is a key part of the British constitution, and many experts have said what this government has done is—while legal—unconstitutional. 

In response to the suspension, Cathy Winfield, the chief officer of Berkshire West clinical commissioning group, recently called the government a ‘fascist dictatorship’. 

She made the comment in a tweet, which she later deleted.