HICCUPS at the Supreme Court on the first day of its debate the lawfulness of proroguing Parliament continued yesterday when some of the judges could not find all the documents the lawyers were referring to.

That was only a few minutes into the session and was quickly followed by the president of the court, Lady Hale, saying that her computer was not working – a technical matter that was soon rectified.

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Away from the court, the EU’s Brexit co-ordinator Guy Verhofstadt said in a European Parliament speech that a suspension such as that which Boris Johnson had tried to engineer could not happen in the EU.

“The British Parliament may be shut down ... but the EU is not,” he said, adding: “Juncker or Tusk can do a lot of things, but at least they cannot close the doors of our house.”

Johnson said he would rather be “dead in a ditch” than request an extension to Brexit, which MPs have voted to force him to do if he does not reach a deal with the EU or have Parliament approve a No-Deal Brexit.

However, MEPs are giving him the chance to seek an Article 50 extension, voting by 544-126 in support of it, should the request be made.

As arguments continued in the Supreme Court, Poland’s ambassador to the UK said it might be best for Polish nationals to return home after Brexit.

Arkady Rzegocki has written to 800,000 Poles in the UK, advising them to “seriously consider” leaving the country. He said 116,000 left Britain last year and around a million remained. He added that his country’s economy was improving and creating more opportunities.

Rzegocki wrote: “Soon, Great Britain, which has been home to thousands of Poles for generations, will most likely cease to be a member of the European Union – which we regret, but we also see this process as an opportunity to strengthen the bond between our two countries.”

Back in court, Aidan O’Neill QC, who is representing the group led by SNP MP Joanna Cherry, who brought the case, had some verbal banter with the judges. He referred to a previous case, which he said showed the Supreme Court “not at its finest hour”.

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To an outbreak of laughter, one of the judges remarked: “Oh, how to win friends and influence people,” to which O’Neill responded: “I’m sorry, my lady, it’s the usual Scots way of I don’t know how to be polite.”

Another judge pointed out: “And I don’t recall who was the unsuccessful advocate?” – a reference to O’Neill, who lost the case in question. Cue further laughter, before the judge added there were “no sour grapes”.