AFP, London :
British MPs debated until midnight on Tuesday over the merits of a bill giving Prime Minister Theresa May the power to start the country’s departure from the European Union.
The government is hoping to rush through the legislation in time to trigger Article 50 of the EU’s Lisbon Treaty, which opens two years of divorce negotiations, by the end of March.
While the two-clause bill is expected to swiftly pass the lower House of Commons, it could be delayed in the upper House of Lords, where May’s Conservative Party does not have a majority.
Its ultimate adoption is in little doubt, however.
“It is not a bill about whether or not the UK should leave the EU, or how it should do so,” Brexit minister David Davis said as he opened the first, two-day debate on the legislation.
“It is simply about implementing a decision already made, a point of no return already passed.”
The government had originally sought to bypass parliament, insisting it had the power to trigger Article 50 on its own, but the Supreme Court last week ruled it must consult lawmakers.
A majority of both houses of parliament opposed Brexit, but May has urged them to respect last year’s historic referendum, when 52 percent of Britons voted to leave the EU.
British MPs debated until midnight on Tuesday over the merits of a bill giving Prime Minister Theresa May the power to start the country’s departure from the European Union.
The government is hoping to rush through the legislation in time to trigger Article 50 of the EU’s Lisbon Treaty, which opens two years of divorce negotiations, by the end of March.
While the two-clause bill is expected to swiftly pass the lower House of Commons, it could be delayed in the upper House of Lords, where May’s Conservative Party does not have a majority.
Its ultimate adoption is in little doubt, however.
“It is not a bill about whether or not the UK should leave the EU, or how it should do so,” Brexit minister David Davis said as he opened the first, two-day debate on the legislation.
“It is simply about implementing a decision already made, a point of no return already passed.”
The government had originally sought to bypass parliament, insisting it had the power to trigger Article 50 on its own, but the Supreme Court last week ruled it must consult lawmakers.
A majority of both houses of parliament opposed Brexit, but May has urged them to respect last year’s historic referendum, when 52 percent of Britons voted to leave the EU.
