Lords to debate Brexit Bill

Sun,19 February 2017
News Equality & Rights

European Union (Notification of withdrawal) Bill gets its second reading in the House of Lords.

View stages of the Bill

Background

The Supreme Court has ruled that the English Parliament must vote on whether the government can start Brexit process. Scottish Parliament and Welsh and Northern Ireland assemblies do not need to have a say.

In R (on the application of Miller and another) (Respondents) v Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union (Appellant) the Supreme Court, by a majority of 8 to 3, dismisses the Secretary of State’s appeal regarding Brexit.

The judgment finds that the terms of the European Communities Act 1972 (‘the ECA’), which gave effect to the UK’s membership of the EU, are inconsistent with the exercise by ministers of any power to withdraw from the EU Treaties without authorisation by a prior Act of Parliament.

Read Secretary of State for Exiting the EU, David Davis, Statement to the House of Commons on the process for triggering Article 50

The government has now published the European Union (Notification of withdrawal) Bill to trigger Article 50.

More information

brexit and human rights

stages of a parliamentary bill