British Parliament Passes Brexit Bill

While attention to date has focussed on opposition within the United Kingdom, it is now likely to switch to May’s negotiating partners on the continent, who, to date, have presented a mixed picture of what she can expect from the negotiations.

Legally speaking, the referendum on June 23 was only “advisory”.

Once the bill becomes law, May could trigger Article 50 of the Lisbon Treaty to start negotiations.

May has revealed little of her strategy but has a long wish list – wanting to win a free trade deal, maintain security cooperation, regain control over immigration and restore sovereignty over British laws.

The bill now moves along the corridor to the Lords for debate later Monday. Faced with the decision of the elected Commons, the Lords backed down and approved it without amendments. So the Brexit Bill passed the Lords without amendments.

Downing Street indicated earlier Monday that the government never had any intention of triggering Article 50 before the last week of March. As the Queen’s role is a formality, people often talk about parliament as being just the Commons and Lords.

Scottish First Minister Nicola Sturgeon called for a referendum on independence within two years to stop Scotland being dragged out of the European Union against its will. “I’d prefer to see the events unfold”, he said. In the Brexit referendum, 62% of Scots voted to remain part of the EU.

“The Scottish government’s mandate for offering this choice (of a second independence referendum) is beyond doubt”, she said.

May called Sturgeon’s cry for independence “deeply regrettable”.

Among the most vocal has been EU Parliament’s chief negotiator Guy Verhofstadt, who has insisted Britain would not be able to “cherry pick”. Like in any divorce, divvying up these up and calculating future support payments is a fraught process. Former British ambassador to the EU John Kerr, who wrote Article 50, says “it is not irrevocable”. As Britain’s Institute for Government recently pointed out, “the U.K.is negotiating with 27 member states, not a unified bloc”.

Israel and Britain will set up a working group to negotiate trade deals between the two countries, the UK’s Guardian newspaper reported on Sunday.

Last month Netanyahu visited London, and he and May spoke of “preparing the ground” for a post-Brexit trade deal.

Meanwhile, ahead of the Commons vote, the heads of 35 Oxford University colleges are pleading with MPs to allow European Union citizens the right to stay after Brexit. The second amendment on whether to hold a meaningful final vote on any deal after the conclusion of Brexit talks was voted down by 331 to 286, a majority of 45, in the Commons.

“This is not about making sure that Brexit doesn’t happen, or Article 50 isn’t triggered”.

The strongly-worded report warned that the Prime Minister’s approach risked fuelling momentum for Scottish independence and undermining the Good Friday Agreement in Northern Ireland.

Meanwhile, Shabbir Razvi, the other panelist on the show, reiterated that the Brexit process needs to be planned in a way that would secure the interests of all European Union member states, as well as Scotland and Northern Ireland; otherwise, it could trigger more exits and independence bids.

Still, the parliament remains supreme.