British MPs on Monday approved a bill that will allow Prime Minister Theresa May to trigger Brexit and rejected two amendments put forward by the House of Lords, including one that would have protected EU citizens residing in Britain.
The upper house tried unsuccessfully to include amendents to protect the rights of EU citizens living in Britain and to give parliament a larger say on the final outcome of EU exit negotiations. Members of the lower house voted by 335 to 287 to reject the condition on EU nationals and by 331 to 286 to reject giving parliament a greater say on the final deal.The bill now passes for final approval to the House of Lords.
The unelected upper chamber, the House of Lords, is not expected to fight for their changes a second time. If they approve the bill it will then be sent to the Queen for symbolic approval, which could be granted as early as Tuesday morning.
May would then be able to begin the two-year negotiation period as set out in Article 50 of the EU’s Lisbon Treaty. Her spokesman hinted on Tuesday, however, that she might do so closer to the end of the month.
Earlier on Monday, Scotland's First Minister Nicola Sturgeon said she will seek the authority to hold a new independence referendum in the next two years because Britain is dragging Scotland out of the European Union against its will.
Sturgeon said that she would move quickly to give voters a new chance to leave the United Kingdom because Scotland was being forced into a "hard Brexit". Britons voted in a June 23 referendum to leave the EU but Scots voted by 62 to 38 percent to remain.
Scotland must not be "taken down a path that we do not want to go down without a choice", Sturgeon said.
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