Bill Designed to Stop No-Deal Brexit Set to Pass Lords

London: A Bill designed to rule out the possibility of a no-deal Brexit — if the UK government fails to secure a deal with the European Union— is set to complete its passage through the House of Lords on Friday. The Bill, signed by a cross-party group of opposition lawmakers, has already cleared the House of Commons by 327 votes to 299 in what was a bruising defeat for UK’s new Prime Minister Boris Johnson. It is now in the House of Lords.

Some opposition politicians feared that marathon filibustering by pro-government peers in the House of Lords, the upper house, could stall Bill’s progress but Lord Ashton of Hyde, a conservative peer, seemed to put those concerns to rest. “We have agreed that the current business of the House will be adjourned today and a new motion will be tabled tomorrow to allow the Bill to complete all stages in this House by 5 p.m. on Friday,” he said. Johnson’s decision to prorogue Parliament for five weeks ahead of Brexit united opposition forces in the lower house and caused rifts in his own party. The government slated a Queen’s Speech, which sets out its legislative agenda for the year to come, on October 14. Currently, the UK is due to leave the bloc on October 31, with or without a deal. (IANS)

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