[ti:Britain's Political Crisis Sets Prime Minister against Parliament] [by:www.51voa.com] [00:00.00]更多听力请访问51VOA.COM [00:00.04]Britain will most likely hold general elections in November. [00:07.32]Prime Minister Boris Johnson has lost his parliamentary majority [00:13.49]and no longer has the votes to pass legislation. [00:19.20]Parliament was officially suspended early Tuesday morning. [00:24.40]The move came just weeks before Britain is supposed to leave the European Union. [00:33.16]Opposition lawmakers have likened parliament's suspension to a coup. [00:40.34]A high court agrees. [00:42.98]Judges at Scotland's highest court have ruled the suspension "illegal." [00:50.80]The case is to go to Britain's Supreme Court next week. [00:56.76]The country is set to withdraw from the European Union on October 31. [01:04.60]Last week, opposition lawmakers passed legislation [01:09.43]that may force the prime minister to ask EU officials for an extension. [01:17.36]The political crisis must end soon, says Stephen Booth. [01:23.72]He is acting director of the Open Europe policy group in London. [01:30.52]The British public is readying for an election, he said, [01:34.76]and that is one reason Labour Party leader Jeremy Corbin and others [01:40.92]want to see "Johnson sent to Brussels...to ask for an extension." [01:48.12]On Tuesday, the prime minister met with students at a London school, [01:53.31]where he announced new investment in education. [01:57.78]The announcement was widely seen as a start to his election campaign. [02:05.72]"I think we will get a deal (with the EU). But if absolutely necessary, [02:12.16]we will come out with no deal," Johnson told reporters. [02:17.88]Opposition lawmakers have warned they will take him to court [02:22.51]if he refuses to ask for an extension. [02:27.24]British politicians are looking for an escape route, noted Stephen Booth. [02:34.44]"One is simply refusing to comply and seeing what happens [02:39.40]in terms of any court cases or legal action that might happen," he said. [02:46.92]For now, parliament has been silenced, and opposition lawmakers are angry. [02:53.68]Tuesday morning, several lawmakers interrupted parliament's closing ceremony [03:00.08]by trying to stop the parliament speaker from leaving his chair. [03:05.80]Others held up protest signs and shouted "Shame on you!" at Conservative Party lawmakers. [03:15.80]The Conservatives will likely have an election campaign that accuses parliament [03:22.21]of trying to overturn the 2016 EU membership referendum, says Catherine Barnard. [03:31.62]She is a professor of European Union Law at the University of Cambridge. [03:39.08]"What we're seeing...is direct democracy through referendum [03:44.11]fighting representative democracy" through parliament, Barnard added. [03:51.00]On Tuesday, EU officials began appointing a new team of representatives for negotiations. [03:59.96]Even if Britain asks for an extension, some EU member countries could veto it, Booth said. [04:08.64]"I think (there is) a growing frustration in the European Union, [04:13.75]sort of, ‘We are open to an extension but what is the plan?'" he added. [04:21.44]One of the major problems in negotiations is the border between Ireland and Northern Ireland. [04:28.68]Now a peaceful, open border, there are fears that any changes resulting [04:35.79]from Britain's EU withdrawal could lead to a return of violence. [04:42.32]On Monday, dissident Irish Republicans attacked police in Londonderry, [04:49.18]a sign that the effects of a British withdrawal are about more than political theatrics. [04:57.39]I'm Susan Shand. 更多听力请访问51VOA.COM