London: Legislation empowering Prime Minister Theresa May to start Brexit negotiations moves to Britain’s House of Lords today—with ministers urging peers to do their “patriotic duty” and back it.
MPs in parliament’s lower chamber, the House of Commons, overwhelmingly backed the bill to allow May to trigger Article 50 of the EU’s Lisbon Treaty, which she has promised to do by the end of March.
Downing Street played down a warning by an unnamed government source that the unelected second chamber could face abolition if it stands in way of Britain’s exit from the EU.
But Brexit minister David Davis told Sky News: “I expect it to do its job and to do its patriotic duty and actually give us right to go on and negotiate that new relationship (with the EU).”
The source had earlier told journalists that the Lords, which many believe has long been ripe for reform, “will face an overwhelming public call to be abolished if they now try and frustrate this bill”.
May’s Conservative party does not have a majority in the House of Lords, raising the possibility that peers may seek to block Brexit. However, the opposition Labour leader in the chamber, Baroness Angela Smith, said in October that she would not be obstructive. “We will scrutinise; we will examine; we will not block,” she said.
Earlier, British MPs overwhelmingly backed the bill empowering May to start negotiations on leaving the European Union, bringing Brexit a significant step closer.
Members of the House of Commons voted by 494 votes to 122 for a law enabling the Prime Minister to trigger Article 50 of the EU’s Lisbon Treaty.
“We’ve seen a historic vote tonight—a big majority for getting on with negotiating our exit from the EU and a strong, new partnership with its member states,” said Davis.
Its passage through the Commons, where two-thirds of MPs had campaigned against Brexit ahead of June referendum, puts May on course to begin the withdrawal process by the end of March, as she has vowed.
The opposition Labour party and the smaller Scottish National Party (SNP) tabled amendments demanding guarantees on market access, workers’ rights and those of EU citizens in Britain.
Each was defeated, although during the process the government was forced to promise lawmakers a vote on final Brexit deal before it is concluded.
Labour imposed a “three-line whip,” a tough disciplinary measure ordering its MPs not to oppose the legislation, ensuring it would pass.
But some 52 Labour MPs rebelled in the vote, including business spokesman Clive Lewis who resigned shortly beforehand, bringing a fresh headache for embattled leftist leader Jeremy Corbyn.
After two-thirds of Labour voters backed Brexit, many of them driven by concerns over mass immigration from the rest of the EU, Corbyn decided his party could not block the process. “Real fight starts now. Over next two years Labour will use every opportunity to ensure Brexit protects jobs, living standards & the economy,” Corbyn wrote on Twitter following the vote.
But he was swiftly reprimanded in a reply by SNP leader Nicola Sturgeon: “How? You’ve just handed the Tories a blank cheque. You didn’t win a single concession but still voted for the bill. Pathetic.”
SNP lawmakers voiced their frustration during vote by singing Beethoven’s “Ode to Joy”, the EU’s anthem, before being told off by Deputy Speaker Lindsay Hoyle.
But the outcome was celebrated by Brexiteers such as Nigel Farage, former leader of the UK Independence Party.
Liberal Democrat lawmaker Nick Clegg, said the vote would allow the government to pursue its aim of a hard Brexit, which will see Britain pull out of single market. “There is no mandate for the hardest of hard Brexits the government favours, which risks leaving us poorer, weaker and more isolated,” he said.
May has promised to prioritise controlling migration in Brexit negotiations, even if that comes at expense of giving up membership of Europe’s single market and its 500 million customers.
