UK: Protesters gather outside Supreme Court amid Parliament prorogation hearing

M/S Protesters holding signs calling for Parliament to be reopened outside Supreme Court, London
W/S Crowd outside Supreme Court
M/S Protester wearing Hulk costume and holding sign: "Chlorinated Johnson"
M/S Camera operators
SOT, Jolyon Maugham, Lawyer: "The government's proposition is a really bold, a really striking proposition. What the government says is that notwithstanding that Parliament itself can't prevent itself from being suspended, the government is free with whatever motive to suspend Parliament for as long as it wants. The consequence of the government's position is that they could suspend Parliament the day after a general election until the day before the next general election, for five years, and the court would not be able to get involved. If the government is right about that, there is nothing left of parliamentary democracy. So I think the government's proposition is striking, it's extraordinary. I believe court will rule against it, I hope the court will rule against it."
W/S Press outside Supreme Court
SOT, Joanna Cherry, Scottish National Party MP: "Lord John Major said in the Scottish Court that it's not the job of the judges to hold the government to political scrutiny, that's the job of Parliament. But when the government prevents Parliament from carrying out its job of political scrutiny, then the judges can step in to restore parliamentary democracy. So that's why the courts in Scotland are prepared to look at the issue, then they went on to look at all the facts and circumstances and they inferred that the reason behind a prorogation was an improper purpose to stymie Parliament. They didn't really miss Boris Johnson who hit the wall, they used quite strong language, they said that what happened was clandestine, was happened was egregious. And I think their reasoning is very persuasive and that's not just my view, it's the view of a number of distinguished commentators including Professor Mark Elliott, Professor Sionaidh Douglas-Scott and Professor Paul Craig."
M/S Protesters with signs: "Don't silence our MPs" and "We demand democracy"
W/S Protesters with signs: "Don't silence our MPs"; "Defend democracy"
C/U Painting depicting UK Prime Minister hiding behind Queen Elizabeth II, who is in sword-fight with Speaker of the House of Commons John Bercow
W/S Man holding painting
SCRIPT
Protesters gathered outside the Supreme Court in London on Tuesday, amid a hearing of two appeals over UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson's decision to suspend Parliament for five weeks.
Demonstrators were seen holding signs reading "Defend democracy" and "Don't silence our MPs," and one of them was wearing a Hulk costume, in reference to Johnson recently comparing himself to the fictional superhero.
Jolyon Maugham, the lawyer and initiator of the case against Johnson's suspension of Parliament, described the government's proposition as "striking."
"The government is free with whatever motive to suspend Parliament for as long as it wants. The consequence of the government's position is that they could suspend Parliament the day after a general election until the day before the next general election, for five years, and the court would not be able to get involved," he said.
Scottish National Party (SNP) Member of Parliament Joanna Cherry stated that "when the government prevents Parliament from carrying out its job of political scrutiny, then the judges can step in to restore parliamentary democracy. So that's why the courts in Scotland are prepared to look at the issue."
The UK Supreme Court will decide whether the prorogation is legal or not.