Brexit bill set to become law as Lords opts to end tussle with MPs over amendments

Patrick Grafton-Green22 January 2020
WEST END FINAL

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Boris Johnson's Brexit deal has completed its passage through Parliament and is set to become law.

The European Union (Withdrawal Agreement) Bill now just needs royal assent to be formally granted by the Queen, paving the way for the UK to leave the EU by the end of the month.

Peers in the House of Lords decided to end their legislative tussle with the Commons today after MPs overturned all changes they made to the Brexit bill.

Assent is expected to be granted in the coming days.

All that is left for the UK to leave with the deal in place on January 31 is for the European Parliament to give its backing to the agreement.

MPs earlier overturned amendments made by defiant peers, before the unelected House of Lords bowed to the will of the Commons.

Speaking in the upper chamber, Brexit minister Lord Callanan said: "We are at the end of what seems like a very long road. The final stages of this bill represent something which many of us thought might never happen - Parliament passing the legislation necessary to implement a Brexit deal and to finally deliver on the 2016 referendum."​​

The Commons earlier reversed five changes made by the Lords to the bill as the legislation entered the "ping-pong" phase where it moves between the two Houses until agreement is reached.

Boris Johnson addresses MPs in the House of Commons on Wednesday
AFP via Getty Images

Among the amendments rejected by MPs was a move, championed by Lord Dubs, to ensure the right of unaccompanied child refugees to be reunited with their families in the UK post-Brexit.

Peers had also put forward a proposal on the rights of EU workers legally residing in the UK to have physical proof of their right to remain and the power of courts to depart from European Court of Justice rulings.

Another underlined the commitment to the so-called Sewel Convention, which states that the UK Parliament "will not normally" legislate for devolved matters without the consent of the devolved legislature affected.

The five amendments were comfortably reversed by MPs, with majorities ranging from 86 to 103.​

Labour, Liberal Democrat and independent crossbench peers had ignored repeated ministerial warnings not to amend the Bill, insisting their objection was not to stop Brexit but to ensure the legislation was better drafted.

During the debate on Wednesday, Brexit Secretary Stephen Barclay said the Government could not accept the Lords amendment on citizens' rights as it would make the EU Settlement Scheme "null and void".

Mr Barclay said: "This amendment would mean the successful EU Settlement Scheme in its current form would need to be abandoned... this would make null and void the 2.8 million applications and the 2.5 million grants of status which have already been completed."

On child refugees, Mr Barclay defended the Government's record before claiming: "Primary legislation cannot deliver the best outcomes for these children as it cannot guarantee that we reach an agreement and that is why this is ultimately a matter which must be negotiated with the EU and the Government is committed to seeking the best possible outcome in those negotiations."

But Labour MP Yvette Cooper said: "That is what makes us all suspicious, that he wants to remove it because there's some reason why he thinks it will restrict what he wants to do and therefore that he's going to, in the end, betray the commitments that have been made to the most vulnerable children of all."

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