Brexit latest: Bill designed to stop no-deal set to become law after clearing House of Lords

Patrick Grafton-Green8 September 2019
WEST END FINAL

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A bill designed to prevent a no-deal Brexit is set to become law after completing its passage through the House of Lords.

The European Union (Withdrawal) (No. 6) Bill had passed from the House of Commons to the Lords on Wednesday.

On Friday afternoon it passed unamended through the House of Lords. It will now go to the Queen for royal assent, and is likely to become law next week.

The bill forces Prime Minister Boris Johnson to ask the EU for the Brexit deadline to be extended until January 31 next year if a deal is not agreed by October 19 and MPs do not back no-deal.

The current Brexit deadline is October 31.

An alternate extension proposed by the European Council must also be accepted by the PM within two days, unless the Commons rejects it.

Mr Johnson, who wants an election on October 15, said yesterday he would "rather be dead in a ditch" than ask for a Brexit extension.

Prior to being passed by Parliament, there were fears that Eurosceptic peers could have talked out, or filibustered, the bill and that it would not be finalised before Parliament is prorogued next week.

But the Government’s chief whip in the Upper House, Lord Hyde, later announced that the Lords would finish on Friday.

Tory Lord Callanan told the House of Lords today that the bill brought “delay and uncertainty” while undermining the government’s efforts to negotiate the withdrawal agreement.

He said it also aimed to tie the Prime Minister’s hands when he was seeking to secure the best possible Brexit deal.

“This bill is about seriously undermining negotiations that could achieve a deal before October 31, frustrating the referendum result and stopping Brexit,” he said.

But he assured peers the legislation would be presented for royal assent.

Jeremy Corbyn spoke with the leaders of the main opposition parties on Friday to discuss their resistance to holding a vote before the prospect of a no-deal Brexit on October 31 is eliminated.

Labour, the Liberal Democrats, the SNPs and Plaid Cymru are all understood to be planning on voting against or abstaining from the Fixed-Term Parliament Act when it returns to the Commons on Monday.

The developments came a day after the PM suffered a torrid 24 hours in which his brother resigned from Government while describing being torn between family and "the national interest".

The PM has said he wants polling day to be October 15, but in order to call the snap election he needs a two-thirds majority in the Commons and opposition parties do not trust him to stick to that date.

They also have concerns about whether he will comply with the cross-party legislation passed by Parliament.

Mr Johnson used a rambling press conference on Thursday to say he would rather be "dead in a ditch" than ask for a further delay.

The following day, during his visit to Scotland, he declined to rule out resigning if he fails to deliver Brexit on the current deadline.

"That is not a hypothesis I'm willing to contemplate. I want us to get this thing done," Mr Johnson said.

The PM's problems further piled up when West Yorkshire Police's chief constable said he was "disappointed" to see officers used as a backdrop to Mr Johnson's political speech a day earlier.

John Robins added that the force had "no prior knowledge" that officers would be used in any other way than to discuss the Government's policing recruitment drive.

After visiting Aberdeenshire, Mr Johnson was scheduled to make the traditional prime ministerial trip to the Queen's Balmoral estate, but the visit will be shorter than expected due to the political turmoil in Westminster.

The PM, expected to be accompanied by partner Carrie Symonds, will stay at the castle on Friday night before returning to London on Saturday.

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