Don’t mess with Brexit Bill, Rudd tells peers

THE Home Secretary has written to every peer in the House of Lords urging them not to hand the Government its first defeat over the Brexit Bill.

Labour believes it has the numbers to “handsomely” defeat the Government today with an amendment to Theresa May’s Article 50 Bill that would guarantee the rights of EU migrants living in the UK.

The amendment is expected to win the support of more than 200 peers including Labour, the Liberal Democrats, cross-benchers and a dozen Tory rebels.

A Lords defeat would mean the Bill would enter into “ping pong”, with Mrs May having to use her Commons majority to vote down the amendment. In her letter, Amber Rudd says the Government has the “utmost respect” for EU migrants living in the UK and that the Government wants to guarantee their rights as soon as possible.

Ms Rudd says the responsibility for the failure to reach an early agreement lies with the refusal of “a few EU coun- tries” – understood to include Germany – to discuss the matter. However, she warns that if the UK “unilaterally” guarantees the rights of EU migrants living in the UK it will leave British citizens living in the EU facing uncertainty over their status. Ministers are pushing for a “reciprocal” deal.

It came as Boris Johnson, the Foreign Secretary, hit back at Sir John Major and said he was fed up with people “droning and moaning” about Brexit, adding that he feels like telling them “come off it, sunshine”.

The Foreign Secretary said Brexit presented an “unrivalled opportunity” for a new free-trade deal with the EU. On Monday Sir John had warned that leaving the union could mean cutting the NHS and welfare state.

Asked about his intervention, Mr Johnson said: “I think it’s very important that as we set out on this journey that we are positive about the outcome, for the very good reason that the outcome will be fantastic for this country. When I became Foreign Secretary and first went to other European capitals they were in a state of shock some of them, of puzzlement. That mood has almost entirely vanished. They really want to help us to do a good deal.”

He added: “Sometimes I feel impatient when I hear people droning and moaning about the state of the world. I hear them warn the sky is likely to fall on our heads. Every generation hears its prognostications of doom.”

David Davis, the Brexit Secretary, warned the Cabinet yesterday that Britain must prepare for the “unlikely scenario” that a trade deal with the EU could not be reached before Brexit.