To avoid a vote, Harper requested that Parliament be prorogued.
Trimble had become interested in politics only after Stormont was prorogued in 1972.
Northern Ireland was ruled directly from Westminster between 1972, when the Northern Ireland parliament was prorogued, and 1999, when the new power-sharing assembly was established.
This last act of policy provoked a quarrel between king and Parliament, which was prorogued in November 1685, never to meet again.
The Speaker confirmed the motion could be put forward unchanged if parliament was prorogued and then resumed, in answer to a question from the pro-Brexit Conservative MP Jacob Rees-Mogg.
The move went barely noticed as it was passed late on the day before parliament was prorogued for the general election, but has alarmed local objectors and anti-nuclear campaigners.
They say that if no agreement is reached between the Lords and the Commons by the beginning of May, when parliament is prorogued before the Queen's speech on 8 May, it may die.
When Heath became prime minister in 1970 and refused to ease the pressure for reform at Stormont, Chichester-Clark's credibility and influence was further undermined After Stormont was prorogued in favour of direct rule from Westminster in 1972, and the government held fruitless talks with the IRA in London, he felt completely betrayed.
Time and again, the then leader of the house, Andrew Lansley, was forced to explain why there wasn't much government business going on; his nadir came when he had to find a reason, other than inactivity, why the Commons was being prorogued a week earlier than usual at Easter.
Possibly her decision might be affected by the precedent of parliament being prorogued in the middle of a session in 1628, by Charles I. In view of subsequent events, ultimately leading to Charles having his head cut off, Her Majesty may hesitate to follow suit.
