On Tuesday night the House of Lords completed the report stage of the European Union (Withdrawal) Bill. During six days of intensive scrutiny we considered about 300 amendments (plus hundreds more over the 11 days of the earlier committee stage), approved dozens of changes by agreement, and defeated the government on 14 issues. The defeats covered such important subjects as a customs union with the EU, the preservation of a soft border between Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland, and a guarantee of a meaningful vote in the House of Commons when the UK’s agreement (if any) with the EU is reached in the autumn. After third reading next week, the bill will return to the Commons for it to consider the Lords amendments.…

Source: The Times May 09, 2018 23:01 UTC