The government will abandon coalition-era plans to radically redraw parliamentary boundaries to cut the number of MPs in the House of Commons from 650 to 600.Cabinet office minister Chloe Smith revealed that they were planning to ditch the shake-up of UK constituencies as the UK parliament faces a "greater workload" after Brexit. Parliament approved plans to slash the number of constituencies to 600 in 2011 but moves to implement the changes has been repeatedly delayed. Proposals published in 2018 by the independent Boundary Commission recommended scrapping 32 seats in England, six in Scotland, 11 in Wales and one in Northern Ireland. Setting out the plans in a written statement, Ms Smith said: "Legislation currently provides that, on implementation of the 2018 Boundary Review recommendations, the number of constituencies in the UK shall be 600. The government is minded to instead make provision for the number of parliamentary constituencies to remain at 650. In doing so, we would also remove the statutory obligation to implement the 2018 Boundary Review recommendations & the statutory obligation on the government to make arrangements to review the reduction in constituencies to 600 by 30 November 2020. The UK parliament will have a greater workload now we are taking back control & regaining our political and economic independence. It is therefore sensible for the number of parliamentary constituencies to remain at 650."