THE GOVERNMENT has suffered a defeat on the EU Withdrawal Bill – the legislation which will make Brexit happen. It happened in the House of Lords, which voted on the issue of whether the UK should negotiate a UK/EU customs union as part of the post-Brexit arrangements.
The Lords backed such a union – by 348 to 225 – by requiring ministers to report back to the House on what steps they would take to secure such a deal.
Lord Patten, backing the demand, explained that it was put forward because, in the opinion of its supporters, the UK would be worse off if it left the EU without a customs union.
However, the Government opposed the motion – and appeared bemused when it passed. It had not backed an ongoing single customs union because it believed such a deal would rule out the UK agreeing trade deals with countries outside the EU.
Lord Callanan, who is actually the Government’s Brexit minister, said the Government had already ruled out negotiating an ongoing customs union and could not change its negotiating position now. He said that the Government would find a way of overturning the Lords vote.
The Department for Exiting the EU also weighed into the debate, pointing out that Bill under discussion was a technical measure to remove EU law from the UK statute books, and replace it with domestic measures where necessary. It was not an opportunity for Parliament (specifically the Lords) to decide the terms of Brexit – which the Government had always said it would decide for itself.
The vote in the Lords saw 24 Conservative peers te against the Government. Some of the rebels made it clear that this was not the only controversial amendment they would be tabling – and they expected to see the Government suffer more defeats before the Bill left the Lords.
Government loyalist Lord Lawson accused the rebels of pretending they were just amending the way trade will be done in the future – but their real agenda was to overturn Brexit. He, and others, told the rebels to stop pretending and to accept the verdict of the British people, as expressed in the referendum.
•Read more about it: Will Brexit turn East London into a ghost town? Cllr Rabina Khan says Bungle-Biggs forgot Brexit!
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