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On Monday night, the House of Lords voted 433 to 165 to remove a key clause in a section of the bill that would have given the government the power to unilaterally nullify parts of the Brexit treaty related to Northern Ireland. The peers then voted 407 votes to 148 to remove clause 44 from the legislation, which relates to the Northern Ireland Protocol. Before Monday’s decisive vote, a landslide defeat for Johnson and his government had been predicted in the House of Lords, with conservative peers such as former leader Lord Michael Howard stating that they would vote against it.
Peers concluded that the legislation would violate international law, due to elements of the withdrawal agreement related to customs exit declarations and state aid.
When it was examined and debated in the House of Commons last month, the bill was approved by MPs by 340 votes to 256.
Even though the peers voted to remove key pieces of the proposed legislation, Downing Street has insisted that the removed clauses will be reintroduced when it returns to parliament in the coming weeks.
But the latest actions by his peers in the House of Lords have infuriated Express.co.uk readers, who have called on the Prime Minister to remove the upper house entirely.
Brexit news: Express.co.uk readers have told Boris Johnson to abolish the House of Lords (Image: GETTY)
Brexit news: Boris Johnson suffered a severe blow when the House of Lords rejected the Internal Market Act (Image: GETTY)
The latest poll, which ran from 8 am to 10:30 pm on Tuesday, November 10, asked: “Should the House of Lords be dissolved?”
A whopping 97 percent (10,599 readers) of the total 10,908 people who voted said it should be abolished.
The remaining three percent (268 readers) said the House of Lords should remain, while less than one percent (41 readers) were undecided.
Readers of Furious Express.co.uk launched scathing attacks on the House of Lords and the hundreds of unelected peers within it in the comment section.
READ MORE: ‘Sore loser’ Sir John Major embarrassed after Brexit intervention
Brxit news: a whopping 97 percent of readers believe the House of Lords should be disbanded (Image: EXPRESS)
One person said: “The Lords for many years have been elected by the outgoing MPs and not by the people. It is a crazy club that no longer has a purpose and is expensive.
“Expect that while many people are trying to deal with the coronavirus, losing their jobs, etc., these so-called lords claim all of their expenses and are paid at least £ 300 a day to attend.
“It is obscene and offensive in these times and needs to be abolished entirely.”
A second reader wrote: “Abolished and replaced by an elected Advisory Chamber (each vote counts) of 50 seats without any power, such as the Office of Budget Responsibility.”
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Brexit news: House of Lords voted 433 to 165 to remove key clause in section of bill (Image: GETTY)
Brexit news: House of Lords has come under fire from Express.co.uk readers (Image: GETTY)
But one person who responded to that comment demanded that Johnson go even further.
They responded, “Just abolish it. Why take a second bite out of all the special interests when it comes to turning the bills in your favor?”
Another reader said: “January 2021 is the culmination of the new British era. The House of Lords has no place in it.
“You have to put British taxpayers’ money to good use and the House of Lords is an unnecessary expense. Get rid of it.”
One person simply wrote: “It should be disbanded because it is undemocratic. There need be no other reason.”
Brexit news: the transition period between the UK and the EU ends on December 31 (Image: EXPRESS)
The Government has stated that the Internal Market Bill is necessary to maintain the integrity of the Internal Market and can act as a safety net if negotiations with the EU fail.
But now the rejection of the legislation threatens to drive a huge hole in the UK’s negotiating position with the EU during the final stages of post-Brexit trade talks.
Brussels has also demanded that the government remove controversial parts of the bill, threatening to take legal action if it is not followed.
Despite the crushing defeat in the House of Lords on Monday night, Downing Street has remained defiant.
A spokesperson for Number 10 said: “We are disappointed that the House of Lords has voted to remove the clauses from the UK Internal Market Bill, which was supported in the House of Commons by 340 votes to 256 and meets a clear conservative manifesto commitment.
“We will resubmit these clauses when the bill returns to the Commons.
“We have always been clear that the clauses represent a legal safety net to protect the integrity of the UK internal market and the enormous benefits of the peace process.
“We hope that the House of Lords recognizes that we have an obligation to the people of Northern Ireland to ensure that they continue to have unrestricted access to the UK in all circumstances.”
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