The UK government has been defeated by the House of Lords over the Brexit bill

The government’s internal market bill sets out the rules for trade between the UK’s four historic and geographic Brexit areas: England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.

However, this law unilaterally modifies the so-called divorce agreement between the United Kingdom and the European Union last year. The Community has already taken legal action in this regard.

The bill has already been approved by the most influential House of Commons. However, the House of Lords, which also includes Anglican archbishops, voted in favor of the initiative to express “regret” over the provisions of the bill that violate the agreement between the UK and the EU.

This vote has not changed the text of the bill, but it means that the legislation will be thoroughly debated in the House of Lords in the coming weeks. Many litigants want to remove the disputed provisions from the document, so they will have to fight the spear with the House of Commons before the final legislation is passed.

Former Conservative ruling leader and enthusiastic Brexiter Michael Howarda was among the demands that voted against Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s unfavorable decision.

“I want the UK to be an independent and sovereign state,” he said during the debate.

“However, I want it to be an independent sovereign state that holds its head high, sticks to its word and adheres to the rule of law, which respects its contractual obligations,” Howard said.

Terrible conference call

The government argues that this law is necessary to avoid fragmentation of the UK’s internal market after the country is not bound by EU rules from 2021. This is particularly important for Northern Ireland.

However, Northern Ireland has a special post-Brexit status under the UK-EU deal as it shares a border with Ireland, a member of the Community.

In early October, the European Commission announced that Brussels had taken legal action on the UK’s Internal Market Act, which would repeal parts of the Brexito Treaty.

Tuesday’s vote took place without London and Brussels finding a way out of the deadlock in negotiations on their future trade relations starting next year. There is an increasing probability that the contract will not be awarded.

EU chief negotiator Michel Barnier again asked the UK on Tuesday to use the short time left to reach an agreement, but London is refusing to resume talks until Brussels promises concessions.

At the time, Johnson held a conference call with about 250 business leaders calling for adequate preparations to be made for the end of the transition period on December 31.

“It is very important that everyone participating in this conference call take seriously the need to prepare, because whatever happens … there will be changes,” said the prime minister.

But Simon Jack, the BBC’s commercial news editor for the public broadcaster, said the conference call described it as “horrible” and emphasized that the commercial concerns had been completely ignored.

Johnson told interlocutors that the coronavirus crisis had caused “excessive corporate apathy” that prevented adequate preparation for life outside the EU. One of the participants in the conference call called such speeches by the Prime Minister “preaching.”