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Brexit: EU withdrawal bill clears final parliamentary hurdle Brexit: EU withdrawal bill clears final parliamentary hurdle
(32 minutes later)
Boris Johnson's Brexit bill is one step away from becoming law after completing its passage through Parliament.Boris Johnson's Brexit bill is one step away from becoming law after completing its passage through Parliament.
The EU (Withdrawal Agreement) Bill, which paves the way for the UK to leave the bloc with a deal on 31 January, is now awaiting royal assent.The EU (Withdrawal Agreement) Bill, which paves the way for the UK to leave the bloc with a deal on 31 January, is now awaiting royal assent.
Earlier, MPs overwhelmingly rejected all five changes - including on child refugees - made by peers to the bill.Earlier, MPs overwhelmingly rejected all five changes - including on child refugees - made by peers to the bill.
It then returned to the Lords where peers backed down, despite some anger at their voices being "dismissed".It then returned to the Lords where peers backed down, despite some anger at their voices being "dismissed".
Now it has completed its passage through Parliament, the UK's exit from the EU must be approved by the European Parliament next week.Now it has completed its passage through Parliament, the UK's exit from the EU must be approved by the European Parliament next week.
The bill passed through the Commons - where the government has a majority of 80 - unamended, but faced a tougher reception in the Lords, where the government does not have a majority. In the House of Lords, Labour peer Lord Howarth said MPs had "dismissed the changes requested with no serious consideration".
Ministers were defeated five times in the Lords earlier this week, including on EU citizens' rights, the power of UK courts to diverge from EU law and the independence of the judiciary after Brexit. He said peers accepted the government had a mandate to deliver Brexit but had "sought to improve" the legislation.
Peers also voted in favour of reinstating a guarantee that unaccompanied refugee children could continue to join relatives in the UK after Brext. Nevertheless, peers chose not to continue a battle with the Commons and agreed to allow the bill to pass.
Dubs amendment
A total of five amendments to the bill were sent to MPs for consideration from the Lords, including on EU citizens' rights, the power of UK courts to diverge from EU law and the independence of the judiciary after Brexit.
Another, the so-called Dubs amendment - which reinstated a guarantee that unaccompanied refugee children could continue to join relatives in the UK after Brexit - was also demanded by peers.
A fifth amendment called for the bill to be changed to take note of the Sewel Convention, which states that Parliament should not legislate on devolved issues without the consent of the Scottish Parliament, the Welsh Assembly and the Stormont Assembly in Northern Ireland.
As expected, with its large majority in the Commons, the government successfully overturned all five earlier on Wednesday.
Baroness Hayter, deputy Labour leader in the Lords said she regretted "what it says about the new government and its willingness to listen" to the devolved administrations, legal experts, and others.
"Legislation is meant to be a dual responsibility," she said. "Let's hope this is a one off and that normal service will shortly resume."
The Dubs amendment, in particular, was well-supported in the Lords and a number of MPs also argued in favour of it.
It would have required the government to commit to negotiating an agreement with the EU on child refugees - hardening up the existing promise in the bill merely to make a statement on the issue within two months.
Ministers say they back the principle of the Dubs amendment but the Brexit bill is not the right vehicle for it.Ministers say they back the principle of the Dubs amendment but the Brexit bill is not the right vehicle for it.
The bill was also changed to take note of the Sewel Convention, which states that Parliament should not legislate on devolved issues without the consent of the Scottish Parliament, the Welsh Assembly and the Stormont Assembly in Northern Ireland. Brexit Secretary Stephen Barclay defended the government's record, saying more than 41,000 refugee children had settled in the UK since the start of 2010, including 3,500 unaccompanied children in the year to September 2019.
'Null and void'
MPs rejected the amendment on citizens' rights, which would have ensured EU nationals' existing rights to live and work in the UK would have been automatically recognised in law, by a margin of 338 to 252 votes.
It would also have required EU nationals to be given physical documentation detailing their right to remain in the UK - rather than relying on digital evidence alone.
Brexit Secretary Stephen Barclay said the government could not accept the amendment because it would render the current process in which EU nationals must apply for settled status "null and void".
MPs also voted, by a margin of 342 to 254, to remove the obligation on the government to negotiate an agreement with the EU on allowing unaccompanied children who have claimed asylum elsewhere but have a relative in the UK to be re-united with their family.
The bill, as agreed by MPs, would only compel the government to make a statement on the issue within two months.
Labour peer Lord Dubs, who has been campaigning on the issue for years, said the outcome was "bitterly disappointing".
Green MP Caroline Lucas called the move "a Tory compassion by-pass".
But Mr Barclay defended the government's record, saying more than 41,000 refugee children had settled in the UK since the start of 2010, including 3,500 unaccompanied children in the year to September 2019.
He said there was no point legislating before the UK reached an agreement with the EU on future numbers.He said there was no point legislating before the UK reached an agreement with the EU on future numbers.
'Trust not enough' But shadow Brexit minister Thangam Debbonaire said it would be a mistake to take the government's promises on child refugees at face value.
Labour argued in favour of all five amendments, insisting they were not trying to thwart Brexit but make a "bad bill" better.
Shadow Brexit minister Thangam Debbonaire said it would be a mistake to take the government's promises on child refugees at face value.
"The government's predecessor government has got form on this, promising to take 3,000 children on the Dubs scheme, as originally committed to, and taking fewer than 500 in the end," she said."The government's predecessor government has got form on this, promising to take 3,000 children on the Dubs scheme, as originally committed to, and taking fewer than 500 in the end," she said.
"The government asking us to trust them... is just not good enough.""The government asking us to trust them... is just not good enough."
Several Tory MPs also urged the government to reach a compromise over the question of whether ministers should have the power to decide in what circumstances courts in England could disregard or set aside certain EU laws. In the end, MPs voted, by a margin of 342 to 254, to reject the Dubs amendment, something the peer himself said was "bitterly disappointing".
Former Brexit Secretary David Davis said potential confusion over the issue risked a "great deal of problems for both government and judiciary", while ex-minister Bob Neill said he backed a compromise tabled by ex-Lord Chancellor Lord Mackay giving the Supreme Court the right to decide. Green MP Caroline Lucas called the move "a Tory compassion by-pass".
The Brexit bill is likely to be granted royal assent in the next day or two.
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