British MPs open doors for May to trigger Brexit

The British government is on track to trigger Brexit by the end of March, after the legislation authorising the government to start negotiations passed through the House of Commons successfully on Wednesday.

Attempts to introduce requirements such as further parliamentary scrutiny, and guarantees for the rights of EU citizens in the UK, were defeated.

The legislation will now pass to the House of Lords, which will consider it when it returns from recess on February 20.

In the end 494 Members of Parliament from Labour and the Conservatives voted in favour of the legislation, with 52 Labour MPs rebelling alongside others from the Liberal Democrats, and Scottish Nationalist Party.

Among the Labour rebels was a shadow cabinet minister Clive Lewis, who resigned from that role, putting the total the number of senior shadow cabinet resignations during the course of the legislation at four.

No riders

The unamended bill was passed following two days of debate this week, as repeated attempts to put conditions on the bill were defeated. Some — such as attempting to guarantee that the government would fiht to protect the right of EU citizens already in the UK to remain afterwards — were defeated more narrowly than the main bill: by 332 to 290.

Another which sought to commit the government to extra NHS funding — as was promised by the Leave campaign during the referendum — was also defeated.

The government clarified, however, that Parliament would have a final say on the deal agreed with Europe after the two-year negotiation process — a move that was billed by Labour as a “concession.” However, others objected to the speedy way the bill moved through the house, with the SNP’s Alex Salmond accusing the government of “railroading” the legislation in a way that had not been seen for over a century.

“This is just take it or leave it and it isn’t a meaningful concession,” said Labour MP Liz Kendall earlier in the day.

On Thursday, Labour Leader Jeremy Corbyn defended the party’s stance, which had been to attempt to introduce amendments, but to finally pass the bill.

“There was a referendum, there was a decision by the people of this country and we support the result of the referendum and have to carry it out,” he told BBC television’s breakfast programme.

“The government does not have a blank cheque to set up an offshore tax haven in Britain…just the authority to proceed with negotiations,” he said, adding that Labour would have the opportunity to shape post-Brexit Britain — when the great repeal bill — converting the EU legislation to British laws came before Parliament. “We want an investment-led economy.”

The next major challenge for the government will come in late February, when the Bill moves to the House of Lords. The government has signalled it expects the Lords to respect the result of the referendum, though its anxieties about the potential conditions the Lords could put on the legislation were revealed as one government source told the BBC that opposing the bill could result in an “overwhelming public call” to abolish the Upper House.

However, the threat is unlikely to sway many members of the upper house. Peter Hain, member of the House of Lords, and former Labour cabinet minister, told the BBC that he would be pushing for Britain to remain in the single market, and that should they not be accepted he would vote against the bill on “principle and conscience.”

“I cannot support something that will damage the country and the people who most need support from the government,” he added.

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