By Aditi KhannaLondon, Nov 14 (PTI) British MPs returned to the House ofCommons today after a brief parliamentary recess to whatpromises to be a bruising battle over a crucial Brexitlegislation transferring existing EU laws to Britain.
The EU Withdrawal Bill, which formally converts allEuropean Union (EU) legislation into UK law to ensure completeclarity on Brexit day 'March 29, 2019', returns for a line byline scrutiny by lawmakers in what is referred to as thecommittee stage of the bill.
Embattled Prime Minister Theresa May, already underpressure from all sides of the political divide overembarrassing high-profile exits from the Cabinet of keyministers, faces the prospect of rebellion from within herparty by anti-Brexit MPs unhappy with aspects of thelegislation.
The debate on the bill, listed for eight days, will takeup more than 470 amendments, running into 186 pages, MPs wantto see before the bill can be passed into law.
Opposition Labour and rebels from within the Conservativegovernment are preparing to vote together on some of theamendments to inflict defeats on an already embattled May.
Her Brexit minister, David Davis, tried to head off someof that rebellion by offering the Commons a vote on the finalBrexit deal.
But his sop failed to win over most MPs, who feel itwould be a hollow vote as they would be given a take it orleave it scenario just days before Brexit and demanded thatParliament be given a vote on the final Brexit deal muchearlier.
"Parliament will be given time to scrutinise, debate andvote on the final deal we strike with the EU," Davis told theHouse of Commons yesterday, adding that it was not clear whensuch a bill would be published.
Labour's shadow Brexit secretary Keir Starmer welcomedthe "significant climbdown” but warned that “the devil will bein the detail”.
"With less than 24 hours before they had to defend theirflawed (EU Withdrawal) bill to Parliament, they have finallybacked down," he said.
The Liberal Democrats reiterated their call for the finaldeal to be put to a referendum while several Tory MPsquestioned what would happen if a deal was only agreed at thelast minute before the March 29 deadline – a scenario Davishas suggested was conceivable – and MPs could only vote afteran exit.
"Today (Tuesday) the misnamed EU Withdrawal Bill cameback to Parliament. It is in fact an undemocratic governmentpower grab,” said Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn.
"Its return follows weeks of damaging delay. That hasonly added to the sense of chaotic dithering around theConservatives' entire approach to Brexit. Nearly 17 monthssince Britain voted to leave the EU, we are still none thewiser as to what our future relationship with our biggesttrading partners is going to look like,” he said.
There will be eight hours of debate in the Commons today,including discussion of how to interpret around four decadesof EU law in UK law and the status of the European Court ofJustice.
A further seven days of debates have been scheduled inthe run-up to Parliament's Christmas break next month.
Scottish National PartyÂ’s foreign affairs spokesperson,Stephen Gethins, said his party had put forward an amendmentto the bill that would prevent a "no deal" scenario so thatthe UK could remain in the EU if negotiations fail.
"We know there is concern across all parties about thisBrexit bill, and the government knows it will have tocompromise. I call on all parties to back this SNP resetamendment to ensure we have a safety net should negotiationsfail," he said.
The first real threat of a government defeat is expectedlater in the course of the eight-day debate, when MPs take upthe so-called "Henry VIII" powers, which give ministers scopeto change laws after Brexit.
Pro-EU MPs within the Conservative party are confident ofa rebellion by up to 10 MPs, which could mean a major defeatfor the government.
The Brexit date of March 29, 2019 is also set to beenshrined in law as part of the withdrawal bill, in a moveannounced by May last week.
It is another amendment that does not have a unanimousbacking of all MPs. PTI AK PMS AKJPMS.
This is unedited, unformatted feed from the Press Trust of India wire.