Peers ‘have no stomach to delay the Brexit Bill’

PEERS will not prevent Theresa May triggering Article 50 after admitting that they do not have the “stomach” to delay the process for weeks.

Dick Newby, the Liberal Democrat leader in the House of Lords, said that although peers are likely to vote successfully for two amendments to the Bill, they will not repeatedly attempt to vote against the Government.

It means that Mrs May will be sure of triggering Article 50 before her deadline of the end of March.

Some opponents of Brexit have suggested that peers wanted to put hurdles in the way of the Bill in an attempt to undermine the Government.

In an interview with the Guardian, Lord Newby said more than 230 Labour and Lib Dem peers will defeat the Government by voting for amendments on the rights of EU citizens and parliamentary votes on the final Brexit deal.

However, he admitted that although this will result in Parliamentary “ping pong” – meaning the Bill will return to the Commons – it will not mean that Mrs May misses her own deadline.

“My guess is that it could be in the Commons on the 13th and back here on the 14th,” he said. “There will not be a stomach to keep sending it back on most things. You can often get an agreement that meets in the middle, but with EU citizens that is more difficult because either you guarantee them the rights or you don’t.”

Lord Newby said that pro-EU peers feel “very strongly” about the issue and are determined to defeat the Government on at least two amendments.

He said: “There are a lot of members of the group for whom Europe is the big thing that has motivated them in poli- tics. We were complacent, truth be told. But things have turned and people on our side feel very strongly about it.”

Mrs May last autumn gave March 31 as her deadline for triggering Article 50, which begins formal Brexit negotiations with Brussels.

David Davis, the Brexit Secretary, this week said there will be “some passing backwards and forwards” of the Bill between the Commons and the Lords, suggesting he expects peers to make changes to the legislation.

‘There are a lot of members for whom Europe is the big thing that has motivated them in politics’