Weaver Vale MP Mike Amesbury addressed a rally in Chester last night amid growing anger over the decision to suspend parliament.

Thousands of people around the country demonstrated in towns and cities and more than one million have signed a petition calling on Prime Minister Boris Johnson to drop his plans.

Mr Amesbury said: "I spoke at a rally in Chester yesterday evening where crowds had turned out to protest this grotesque affront to our Parliamentary democracy by Johnson and his allies.

"Leave or remain, party politics aside, this is about the sovereignty of Parliament. "

The plan to suspend Parliament was heavily criticised by opposition parties, and has been criticised by some Conservative MPs, and there are legal challenges in English and Scottish courts.

On Wednesday, Mr Johnson said he wanted to prorogue Parliament in order to bring the current record-breaking session to a close in order to bring forward his Government’s new legislative agenda.

But opposition leaders said the Prime Minister is trying to halt their efforts to block a no-deal Brexit.

The petitioners say Parliament “must not be prorogued or dissolved unless and until the Article 50 period has been sufficiently extended or the UK’s intention to withdraw from the EU has been cancelled”.

Legal challenges against Mr Johnson’s decision are mounting, with separate bids launched in London and Edinburgh courts seeking an emergency injunction to prevent Parliament being suspended.

Runcorn and Widnes World:

Leader of the House of Commons Jacob Rees-Mogg, above, has dismissed the outraged reaction to the suspension plan as "phoney."

The leading Brexiteer and Boris Johnson ally also hit back at Commons Speaker John Bercow’s intervention on the decision to prorogue Parliament, saying it was “not constitutional” for him to speak out in such a way.

Mr Rees-Mogg insisted the move was not intended to limit the time available for MPs to debate Brexit but will allow the Government to tackle other issues.

He said: “I think the outrage is phoney and it is created by people who don’t want us to leave the European Union and are trying very hard to overturn the referendum result and don’t want the benefits of leaving the European Union.”

He added: “Parliament wasn’t going to be sitting for most of this time anyway. This is completely constitutional and proper.”