Brexit vote: Legislation poised to clear Commons hurdles after months of turmoil

Boris Johnson’s Brexit legislation is poised to clear its Commons hurdles on Thursday after months of knife-edge votes and parliamentary turmoil.

Armed with an 80-strong majority, Mr Johnson decided to fast-track the Withdrawal Agreement Bill (WAB) through its remaining stages in the Commons in just three days, where it has faced little substantial opposition.

If MPs vote to pass the bill unamended, as expected, the legislation will move to the House of Lords where the government has no majority – and could face a rougher ride from pro-European peers.

The prime minister’s decision to strip out commitments in the bill to allow child refugees to reunite with their families has been branded disgraceful by opposition MPs, and is likely to prove a crunch point for peers.

Labour peer Alf Dubs, who fled the Nazis on the Kindertransport when he was 6-years-old, had urged Tory MPs to back efforts to reinstate the protections in the Brexit legislation. However the attempt was heavily defeated in the Commons on Wednesday.

The bill’s smooth passage comes in stark contrast to the trials Theresa May endured during her premiership.

Rebel Tories joined forces with opposition MPs to reject Ms May’s deal by 230 votes in January 2018 – the worst government defeat in history – before inflicting two further defeats on the beleaguered prime minister.

Ms May was then forced to ask the EU to delay Brexit beyond 31 March, sowing the seeds for her resignation in the summer.

Her successor, Mr Johnson, has redrafted the WAB since winning the election, stripping out oversight on trade negotiations, protections for workers and the commitments to child refugees. Downing Street insists these matters will be dealt with in separate legislation.

Mr Johnson's official spokesman said: "The prime minister obviously made it a priority after winning a majority to get Brexit done and to move the country forward, and securing the legislation's passage through the Commons is a significant positive step for delivering on that."

The spokesman confirmed that Mr Johnson intends to be present in the Commons to vote on the third reading, but he is not expected to speak in the chamber.

The bill also enshrines in law the prime minister’s pledge against extending the transition period beyond December 2020. This new deadline increases the risk of a no-deal Brexit, as it leaves the prime minister only 11 months to negotiate a trade deal with Brussels.

Ursula von der Leyen, the new European Commission president, said the timetable set by Mr Johnson to get a trade deal agreed and ratified by the end of the year was “very, very tight”.

“Without an extension of the transition period beyond 2020, you cannot expect to agree on every single aspect of our new partnership. We will have to prioritise,” she said, ahead of a meeting in Downing Street on Wednesday.

However a No10 spokesman described the talks as “positive” and said the prime minister made it clear that the UK was ready to start talks as soon as possible after Brexit day.

The spokesman added: “The PM was clear that the UK would not extend the implementation period beyond December 31 2020; and that any future partnership must not involve any kind of alignment or ECJ jurisdiction. He said the UK would also maintain control of UK fishing waters and our immigration system.”