Formal debate will begin in Parliament today (Tuesday 31 January)
on giving the government the power to trigger Article 50 as the
EU (Notification on Withdrawal) Bill enters the House of Commons
for its Second Reading.
Speaking ahead of the debate, Secretary of State for Exiting the
EU said that having put the
decision on the UK's membership of the EU into the hands of
voters in last year's referendum, MPs were considering a 'very
simple question: do we trust the people or not?'
MPs will be urged to respect the referendum result and pass
straightforward legislation allowing formal negotiations to
commence following last week's Supreme Court judgment, without
attempting to tie the Government's hands.
The Government is committed to giving Parliament sufficient time
to consider and debate the Bill, with five days' debate
scheduled. The length of time between the different stage of Bill
passage has been shortened, but time for debate is not affected.
is expected to say:
“It is not a Bill about whether or not the UK should leave
the EU, or how it should do so. It is simply about implementing a
decision already made, a point of no return already passed. We
asked the people of the UK if they wanted to leave the EU; they
decided they did."
This is one of many moments for Parliament to scrutinise the UK’s
exit from the EU. A White Paper, setting out the negotiation
principles, and the Great Repeal Bill, transposing EU law into UK
law, have also been announced and will shortly be brought before
Parliament. The Government has also committed to holding a vote
on the final deal with the EU, once negotiations are complete.
