The prime minister lost his majority and his first vote as backbench MPs seized control of the order paper and introduced the European Union (Withdrawal) (No 6) Bill.
Michael Zander QC, Emeritus Professor, LSE, said: ‘The purpose of the Bill is to prevent a No Deal exit from the EU, though whether it would do that is not clear.’
The prime minister will opt for an election rather than ask for a Brexit extension, if the Bill passes, but needs the agreement of two-thirds of MPs to do so.
Writing in NLJ this week, Zander said: ‘At the time of writing there was a further question—would the Bill have Queen’s Consent? This is required for any bill that affects the royal prerogative. Queen’s Consent is required to be signified after the third reading in the House of Commons. It is given by a minister after authority has been obtained from the Queen on application by a Privy Counsellor.’
