The UK’s controversial Brexit bill has passed its latest phase in parliament after potential Conservative rebels backed a compromise with ministers.
The government promised to tell the Commons before using the powers in the internal market bill to override parts of the Brexit divorce deal.
The bill has been consistent with the EU, threatening to take legal action unless the departments withdraw.
MPs will vote on it again next week, before the House goes to the Lord’s.
The bill would give the government the power to breach parts of the Brexit withdrawal agreement, which a minister has acknowledged would violate international law.
It is designed to enable goods and services to flow freely when they leave the EU’s only market and customs union on January 1 across England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland – an island or Ireland crumbling if it talks to the EU about tight border avoidance arrangements. Going.
The government argues that these powers are a “safety net” if the EU interprets the agreement in an extreme and unreasonable way.
But critics have warned that the changes would hurt the UK’s international standing.
Prime Minister Boris Johnson struck a deal with Conservative lawmakers last week in a move to stem a possible uprising.
‘Legal thugs’
The government’s amendment to the bill, backed by lawmakers, will prevent ministers from using their power to override the Brexit withdrawal agreement unless ministers have previously voted to approve it.
The compromise was similar to the change proposed by senior Tory backbencher Sir Bob Neal, who canceled an amendment he had planned on the issue last week.
“That’s not where I wanted to be,” he told Commons. “But in the interest of the country it is true that in order to grow and improve the market within the UK, we get the right operation, the right set of rules.”
For Labor, who opposed the bill, shadow industry minister Lucy Powell said “legal thugs” have “won” in Downing Street.
But Business Secretary Paul Scully said he would ensure that “developed administrations benefit from independence outside the EU”.
Five surviving former prime ministers – Theresa May, Sir John Major, Tony Blair, Gordon Brown and David Cameron – have spoken out against the bill.
