British lawmakers from across the political spectrum were yesterday plotting to put the brakes on British Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s drive to push his EU divorce bill through the House of Commons in just three days, potentially scuttling the government’s hopes of delivering Brexit by Thursday next week.
The bill faced two votes yesterday, with lawmakers first being asked to approve it in principle, followed by a vote on the government’s schedule for debate and possible amendments.
While many analysts expected the bill to be approved, lawmakers might reject the three-day timetable, because of concerns it does not provide enough time for scrutiny of the 115-page document, which sets out the terms of Britain’s departure from the EU.
Major bills usually take weeks or months to pass through Parliament, giving time for line-by-line scrutiny by lawmakers.
Green Party lawmaker Caroline Lucas tweeted that lawmakers “had more time to debate the Wild Animals in Circuses Act (affecting 19 animals) than they will to decide the future of 65 million people. It’s hard to think of anything which better illustrates this Govt’s contempt for people, Parliament & democracy.”
Ominously for the government, some lawmakers who support the Brexit deal said they would vote against the short timetable.
“Unless you are prepared to contemplate more expansive debate, there is not the slightest possibility of considering the deal that has been obtained within the time available,” Ken Clarke, a senior lawmaker recently ousted from Johnson’s Conservative Party group in Parliament, told the Guardian newspaper.
Johnson’s government had sought a “straight up-and-down vote” on Monday on the agreement he struck last week with the 27 other EU nations laying out the terms of Britain’s exit, but British House of Commons Speaker John Bercow, refused to allow it because lawmakers voted to delay approving the Brexit deal on Saturday, and parliamentary rules bar the same measure from being considered a second time during a session of Parliament unless something has changed.
Johnson’s only hope of securing Britain’s departure by Thursday next week is to pass the Brexit-implementing bill through Parliament before then.
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