House of Lords 'rejects' Theresa May's Brexit deal in ballot dubbed 'the meaningless vote'

One peer remarked she had never seen the Lords chamber so busy
House of Lords
James Morris15 January 2019
WEST END FINAL

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The House of Lords has voted to "emphatically reject" a no-deal Brexit scenario in a vote that has been labelled “meaningless”.

Lords voted to reject Mrs May’s proposals by 321 to 152 in the ballot on Monday night.

The Commons has the final say over the Prime Minister's deal on Tuesday, leading to the Lords ballot being dubbed “the meaningless vote”.

The House of Lords highlighted its toothlessness on its Twitter account, telling one user: “Under the EU (Withdrawal) Act the @HouseofCommons must vote on the withdrawal agreement and the #HouseofLords must complete this debate. The Commons has the final say.”

Lords peer Tanni Grey-Thomson remarked she had "rarely seen it so busy".

Closing the debate on behalf of the government, Lord Keen of Elie had defended Mrs May by saying: “A second referendum would be seen by many as a constitutional outrage.

“Great advances were made in the negotiations so far as the backstop was concerned.

“So many people in the UK chose to leave. They were against the notion of ever-closer political union [with the EU].

“The Withdrawal Agreement was made in good faith. And we perhaps need to remind ourselves the referendum wasn’t a choice between good and evil.

“We must proceed with the Withdrawal Agreement."

The Labour motion in the Lords urged MPs to "emphatically reject" a no-deal Brexit while warning that the Government's deal would damage the UK's future economic prosperity, internal security and global influence.

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