A bill to begin Britain’s separation from the European Union was introduced to parliament Thursday, in the face of demands from several MPs to see a more detailed plan before voting on it.
The short bill introduced by the Brexit secretary, David Davis, calls for members of parliament to “confer power on the Prime Minister to notify … the United Kingdom’s intention to withdraw from the EU.”
Prime Minister Theresa May’s government had planned to trigger Article 50 of the Lisbon Treaty — the legal mechanism through which Brexit officially begin — but the Supreme Court on Tuesday ruled that parliament must vote to begin the process.
May has said she wants to trigger Article 50 by the end of March.
“The straightforward Bill, which gives the Prime Minister the power to formally trigger Article 50, is expected to move through both the House of Commons and House of Lords before gaining Royal Assent prior to the March 31st deadline,” a statement from the Department for Exiting the European Union said.
“The British people have made the decision to leave the EU and this government is determined to get on with the job of delivering it,” Davis said, according to the statement.
“So today we have introduced a Bill in Parliament which will allow us to formally trigger Article 50 by the end of March,” he said, adding he hoped parliament would pass the law quickly.
Brexit White Paper
May announced on Wednesday that her government would produce a White Paper setting out the detail of its Brexit plan after pressure from several MPs that the public was being kept in the dark on the process.
On Thursday, MPs demanded that the White Paper be available to them before voting on the Article 50 legislation
Davis refused to give parliament a specific date for when the White Ppper would be available, saying only that the government would be “as expeditious as we can.”
The Article 50 bill will go through several readings and rounds of debates, in which some MPs could ask for amendments. Others have said they will vote against the bill, arguing that their constituents did not vote to leave the union.
