The government should not assume that the Brexit Bill meets all the requirements of the recent Supreme Court ruling on Art 50, former Supreme Court Justice Lord Hope has warned.
Lord Hope was speaking during the House of Lords’ debate on the European Union (Notification of Withdrawal) Bill this week. The Bill passed through the Commons unamended, but may meet stronger opposition in the Lords.The Supreme Court held last month that Parliamentary approval, rather than the prime minister’s use of the Royal Prerogative, was required to trigger Article 50, the formal notification process for leaving the EU.
A record 187 Peers are scheduled to speak during the debate, on the Bill. Unusually, the launch of the debate was attended by Prime Minister Theresa May, the first PM in decades to attend a Lords debate.
Baroness Evans, the Conservative leader in the Lords, who began the debate, said: “This Bill is not the place to try and shape the terms of our exit, restrict the government’s hand before it enters into complex negotiations or attempt to re-run the referendum.”
Baroness Smith, the Labour leader in the Lords, said her party would not “block, wreck or sabotage” the Bill, before adding “neither shall we provide the government with a blank cheque”.
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