London, Jan 17 (AFP) British MPs were set to give thegreen light to a key Brexit bill after weeks of debate and adamaging government defeat, although the legislation stillfaces a battle in the upper chamber.
The House of Commons was expected to approve the EU(Withdrawal) Bill, which repeals the 1972 law which madeBritain a member of the European Union and transfers fourdecades of EU rules onto the British statute books.
But the unelected upper House of Lords may insist onfurther changes when the bill moves there for scrutiny laterthis month, while ministers still face opposition from thedevolved Scottish and Welsh administrations.
There are "going to be big battles" in the coming monthson constitutional issues, a source in the opposition Labourparty in the Lords told AFP.
MPs have tabled hundreds of amendments to the bill inrecent weeks, many of them focused on its sweeping powers toboth change EU regulations as they are transferred and toauthorise any Brexit agreement with the bloc.
Eleven members of Prime Minister Theresa May'sConservative party joined with opposition lawmakers last monthto force a change ensuring that parliament will have a"meaningful vote" on the final withdrawal deal.
Fearful of another loss, the government conceded to giveMPs the power to amend the date and time of Brexit -- set outin the bill as 2300 GMT on March 29, 2019 -- if talks with theEU appeared to overrun.
But veteran Conservative MP Kenneth Clarke, a passionateeurophile, said the way parliament had handled the bill so farwas "pathetic".
"I hope and believe that the other place (the Lords) willmake an enormous number of changes to this bill," he said.
The Scottish and Welsh governments have also warnedagainst what they describe as a "power grab" in the bill,which would see some powers in devolved areas of policymakingcurrently held in Brussels, taken back to London.
May said discussions were continuing with Edinburgh andCardiff, adding that an amendment on devolved powers would betabled to the bill when it reached the House of Lords.
In the final debate in the Commons on Wednesday, pro-European MPs -- including Conservatives -- took theopportunity to criticise the government's Brexit strategy.
Former attorney general Dominic Grieve, who led the Toryrebellion last month, warned: "Unless we're realistic aboutthat we can't hope to get a reasonable outcome to ournegotiations."Justine Greening, who resigned as education secretary ina reshuffle earlier this month, warned that if Brexit did notwork for young people, "it will not be sustainable" and theymay seek to "improve or undo what we've done".
Britain and the EU reached preliminary agreement beforeChristmas on the key separation issues -- Britain's financialsettlement after Brexit, EU expatriate rights and the futureof the Irish border.
The deal opened the door to the next phase ofnegotiations on future relations, including Britain's requestfor a new trade agreement to replace its membership of theEU's single market and customs union.
However, May has yet to set out her precise vision forthe future, and while some members of her cabinet want to stayas close as possible to the single market, others favour aclean break.
European Council President Donald Tusk on Tuesday saidthe EU's "hearts were still open" if Britain decided to changeits mind about leaving the bloc.
His comments followed a remark by leading Brexitcampaigner Nigel Farage that he might be open to a secondreferendum in Britain on EU membership, to silence critics.
European Commission chief Jean-Claude Juncker weighed inon Wednesday, saying: "Mr Tusk says our hands remainoutstretched. If the British wish to find another way thanBrexit, we are then ready to talk about it." (AFP)PMS.
This is unedited, unformatted feed from the Press Trust of India wire.