Britain’s Brexit bill passes final hurdle in Parliament
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Britain’s Brexit bill passed its final hurdle in Parliament on Wednesday after the House of Lords abandoned attempts to amend it, leaving the U.K. on course to leave the European Union next week.
The bill was approved by Parliament’s upper chamber after the House of Commons overturned changes to the government’s flagship Brexit bill made a day earlier by the unelected House of Lords.
The bill will become law when it receives royal assent from Queen Elizabeth II, a formality that could come as soon as Thursday.
Britain is scheduled to leave the European Union on Jan. 31, more than three and a half years after voters opted for Brexit in a June 2016 referendum, and after many rounds of political wrangling.
Boris Johnson said the UK has “crossed the Brexit finish line” after Parliament passed legislation implementing the withdrawal deal.
The European Parliament will meet on 29 January to debate the agreement, which sets out the terms of the UK’s “divorce” settlement with the EU, the rights of EU nationals resident in the UK and British expats on the continent and arrangements for Northern Ireland.
Its ratification is expected to prove a formality.
The UK will officially leave the 27-member bloc at 11.00 GMT on 31 January – more than three and a half years after the country voted for Brexit in a referendum in June 2016.
