Peers unite to soften Brexit
Opposition peers and Tory rebels backing extra safeguards for EU citizens and veto on final deal
MINISTERS are under growing pressure to offer Brexit Bill concessions this week to avoid two damaging defeats on amendments in the House of Lords.
Tory rebels and cross-benchers have joined forces with Labour and Liberal Democrat peers to force changes to the legislation that will start Brexit talks.
Cross-party support has formed around a promise to guarantee the rights of EU citizens living here after Brexit and a demand for a parliamentary “veto” on the final Brexit deal. Opposition sources are boasting they “have the numbers” in the Lords to defeat the Government on both amendments, given the Tories do not have a majority. Any changes passed by peers would plunge the legislation into socalled “ping-pong”, with MPs asked to approve them or send the legislation back to the Lords.
It would raise fresh questions about whether Theresa May could hit her deadline of triggering Article 50 to start Brexit talks by the end of March.
THERESA MAY is facing a double defeat over the Brexit Bill as peers back extra protections for EU citizens and a veto on the final deal.
Labour, Liberal Democrats, Tory rebels and crossbenchers have all rallied round two amendments that would force changes on the legislation to start Brexit talks.
One change would ensure every EU citizen currently in Britain keeps the right to work and stay here, even if Britons living on the Continent lose protections. The second would force ministers to get the approval of MPs and peers on the final Brexit deal before they withdraw from the EU – an effective veto.
Opposition sources have boasted they “have the numbers” to defeat the Government because the Tories have no majority in the Lords.
Tory rebels have also publicly expressed support for the moves, with Baroness Altmann, the former pensions minister, telling this newspaper that she is considering backing both.
Any changes that are voted through by the Lords would then go to the House of Commons to be approved by MPs. Should the Commons reject the amendments, the legislation enters what is known as “ping-pong”, with peers and MPs squaring off until an agreement is reached.
Ministers are now under pressure to avoid a damaging vote defeat and its fallout by coming up with a compromise on both topics. Despite the pressure, Lord Bridges, the Brexit minister, uses an article on telegraph.co.uk to demand peers wave through the legislation unamended.
“This is not the place to rehearse the arguments of the referendum, seek to dictate the terms of our exit, or tie the Prime Minister’s hands as she prepares to enter negotiations that will be complicated and difficult,” he writes.
The European Union (Notification of Withdrawal) Bill, which gives the Government the power to trigger Article 50 and start talks, was passed by MPs without any changes. However, it is facing a more difficult passage through the Lords, where Labour and Lib Dem peers outnumber Tories.
Over the next fortnight, a battle over what changes – if any – are made to the legislation will play out. The Government is facing defeat on two fronts.
One amendment promises that citizens from the EU and European Economic Area will enjoy the rights they currently enjoy after Brexit. It pledges they will not be “disadvantaged in relation to their right to reside and work in the United Kingdom or their potential to acquire such rights in the future”.
That goes a step further than the Government, which has said it will only make the promise if Britons living in the EU are given the same assurances.
Baroness Altmann said she was “deeply distressed” by the failure to guarantee EU citizens’ rights and was considering supporting the move.
She said: “They’ve done nothing wrong. It’s almost unhuman [how they are being treated].”
The second amendment gathering support will ensure MPs and peers vote on the final Brexit deal before leaving the EU.
Theresa May will task an independent body to help decide how many immigrants come to Britain every year after Brexit, it has been reported.
The Prime Minister is said to be considering giving the Migration Advisory Committee powers to advise her on how many visas are issued each year.
She has also reportedly asked ministers to draw up a “traffic light” system, issuing regular red, amber and green updates on their preparedness for Brexit.