Ministers braced for Brexit losses as peers flex their muscles over Bill

MINISTERS are bracing themselves for their first defeats in the House of Lords on legislation that will take Britain out of the European Union.

Peers are expected to vote for an amendment to the European Union Withdrawal Bill to force ministers to see how they might keep Britain in the customs union.

Another proposal to guarantee EU protections for workers and consumers in post-brexit Britain is also to be approved by peers.

Other votes are planned for coming days, particularly on April 30 regarding an amendment to give Parliament a vote before the UK can walk away with no deal. This would give MPS the power to decide what course of action the Government should take if Parliament rejects the draft withdrawal agreement. The likely defeats in the House of Lords today will allow government whips to identify the number of peers who are intent on voting down Brexit legislation.

However, any measure approved by peers will have to be confirmed by another vote in the House of Commons.

Baroness Smith of Basildon, the shadow leader of the Lords, said: “Our peers won’t be shy about sending amendments to the Commons, giving MPS a further chance to scrutinise the detail of the Bill.”

The customs union amendment will force the Government to set out in both Houses of Parliament by Oct 31 “a statement outlining the steps” in the Article 50 talks to enable “the United Kingdom to continue participating in a customs union” with the EU.

It has been tabled by Lord Kerr of Kinlochard, a cross-bench peer and the former British diplomat who drafted the original EU treaty that is enabling Brexit, and Lord Patten of Barnes, the former Tory party chairman.

Last night David Jones, the former Brexit minister, said: “This amendment will generate lots of smoke but not much fire. We must leave the customs union in order to negotiate trade deals and take advantage of the opportunities of Brexit, and this amendment would not stop that.”

Writing today for The Daily Telegraph’s website, Lord Callanan, an Exiting the EU minister, said ministers had done their best “to listen to proposals to improve the Bill, provided they do not conflict with its core aim to provide certainty after exit, or seek to prevent or delay our exit from the EU”.

Read Lord Callanan’s article on the Telegraph website