The bill giving prime minister Theresa May the authority to trigger Article 50 and start negotiations to take the UK out of the EU has passed its final stage in the House of Commons and will now move on to lords for consideration.
The EU (Notification of Withdrawal) Bill was passed by 494 votes to 122 in its original, unamended form.
MPs debated a number of additional clauses or amendments but none received sufficient support.
They included clause 43, tabled by the Liberal Democrat leader Tim Farron, which called for a second public referendum before Brexit takes place.
That was defeated, along with a proposed new clause 57, tabled by Labour backbenchers, which required the government to guarantee the rights of EU citizens living in the UK before Article 50 is triggered. Treasury select committee chair Andrew Tyrie was one of three Conservative rebels who voted in its favour.
David Davis, the secretary of state for exiting the EU, called the vote ‘historic’, and said: ‘It has been a serious debate, a healthy debate, with contributions from MPs representing all parts of the UK, and I respect the strong views on all sides.
‘It is now time for everyone, whichever way they voted in the referendum, to unite to make a success of the important task at hand for our country.’
The bill will now be put before the House of Lords for a final decision later this month. May has reaffirmed that she plans to invoke Article 50 by the end of March.
Shadow business secretary Clive Lewis was one of 52 Labour MPs to defy party orders to back the bill in the Commons and has resigned from the front bench. Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn has said his party will continue to fight Conservative plans for the details of Brexit, including any moves to cut corporation tax.
Corbyn said: ‘The government does not have a blank cheque to set up an offshore tax haven in Britain. All that it has is authority to proceed with negotiations, which is what the referendum was about.’
Assuming there is no substantive challenge in the Lords, and May does trigger Article 50 as planned, then the next parliamentary battle will focus on the proposed Great Repeal bill.
The bill has three primary elements: repealing the European Communities Act 1972; preserving EU law where it stands at the moment before the UK leaves the EU; and enabling changes to be made by secondary legislation to the laws that would otherwise not function sensibly once the UK has left the EU.
The Great Repeal Bill is expected to be introduced in the next parliamentary session, with a white paper promised once Article 50 negotiations begin.
