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| Brexit bill: Theresa May publishes Article 50 legislation in preparation for MPs' vote | Brexit bill: Theresa May publishes Article 50 legislation in preparation for MPs' vote |
| (35 minutes later) | |
| The Bill to start Brexit by allowing Theresa May to trigger the Article 50 exit clause is just eight lines long – and only 130 words. | |
| Ministers have stuck to their vow to make the legislation as short as possible – to try to head off Parliamentary attempts to amend it and shape the Brexit process. | Ministers have stuck to their vow to make the legislation as short as possible – to try to head off Parliamentary attempts to amend it and shape the Brexit process. |
| The strikingly brief Bill – and the decision to allocate MPs just five days to debate it – immediately sparked an angry protest from Labour MPs. | |
| One called on Jeremy Corbyn to order Labour to vote against the timetable, to allow more debate, something the Labour leader will be desperate not to do – having vowed not to “obstruct” Brexit. | |
| The wording of the Bill also raised eyebrows, because it does not state Theresa May’s deadline – March 31 – for triggering Article 50. | |
| The Department for Exiting the European Union said it was “not normal procedure for Bills to have deadlines within them”. | |
| A spokeswoman pointed out that the Commons had already, on a non-binding motion before Christmas, backed that timetable. | |
| And David Davis, the Brexit Secretary, said: “Today, we have introduced a Bill in Parliament which will allow us to formally trigger Article 50 by the end of March. | |
| “I trust that Parliament, which backed the referendum by six to one, will respect the decision taken by the British people and pass the legislation quickly.” | |
| The Bill was published after this week’s Supreme Court ruling that MPs and peers must give their consent to invoking Article 50. | The Bill was published after this week’s Supreme Court ruling that MPs and peers must give their consent to invoking Article 50. |
| MPs will sit late into the night next week, as the Government aims for the Bill to also clear the House of Lords by early March. | |