UK and EU have agreed on a “large part” of the agreement that will lead to the “orderly withdrawal” of the UK. Negotiators Michel Barnier and David Davis said the deal on what the UK calls the implementation period was a “decisive step” in the Brexit process, although some of the issues still to be resolved include the Northern Ireland border.
The marathon bill paving the way for Britain to leave the European Union passed a crucial stage in the House of Commons on Wednesday night. With support of 324 MPs, and the opposition of 295 MPs, a government majority of just 29, the bill for Exiting the EU aims to convert all European law into British law.
Ex Labour prime minister Tony Blair has attacked Labor's timidity on Brexit, saying it would deliver a departure from the EU designed by the Tory right. He urged the party he once led to nail the myths of the Brexit campaign - and fight for the rights of voters to think again about leaving. He said 2018 would be the year the fate of Britain would be decided.
The Brexit deal covering “withdrawal” issues will only hold if it is approved by MPs and peers in a new piece of legislation to put it into British law, David Davis has said. The Brexit Secretary announced a Withdrawal Agreement and Implementation Bill, which MPs will be able to amend, to cover areas such as citizens’ rights, the so-called divorce bill and a transition period.
The British Labour party is seeking to up the pressure on ministers over their refusal to release a series of Brexit impact studies. The government has confirmed that 58 reports looking at different sectors of the economy have been prepared, but is resisting calls to publish them; saying to do so would undermine the UK's negotiating position.
The UK Government’s plans for Brexit are “in paralysis”, Labour claimed amid speculation crucial legislation will be delayed again. Shadow Brexit secretary Sir Keir Starmer said there was “chaos at the heart of Government” over the approach to leaving the European Union.
UK Labour activists have backed a statement clarifying the party’s position on Brexit. The eleventh-hour statement was waved through by a show of hands in the main conference hall, after another day of division in the party over Britain’s EU withdrawal.
The government's bid to extract the UK from EU law in time for Brexit has passed its first Parliamentary test. MPs backed the EU Withdrawal Bill by 326 to 290 in a Monday late-night vote despite critics saying it represented a “power-grab” by ministers.
A Welsh Member of Parliament who quit Labour's shadow cabinet rather than back the bill to trigger Brexit has welcomed the party's call to stay in the single market temporarily. Cardiff Central MP Jo Stevens said Labour was shifting in the right direction on relations with the EU.
European Commission president Jean-Claude Juncker has delivered a fresh rebuke to Theresa May over her Government’s handling of the Brexit process. He said official papers setting out the UK Government’s positions were not satisfactory and it was “crystal clear” that an “enormous amount” of issues needed to be settled before talks on a future trade deal could begin