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| Brexit: Government suffers second defeat in Lords | |
| (35 minutes later) | |
| The government has suffered a second Brexit defeat in the House of Lords as peers backed, by 366 votes to 268, calls for a "meaningful" parliamentary vote on the final terms of withdrawal. | |
| Backing the move, former deputy PM Lord Heseltine said Parliament must be the "custodian of national sovereignty". | |
| Ministers said it was "disappointing" and would seek to overturn the move when the bill returned to the Commons. | |
| The previous defeat was on the issue of guaranteeing the rights of EU citizens. | |
| After a three-hour debate, peers amended legislation which will trigger official Brexit talks to require the final terms of the UK's departure from the EU to be put to separate votes in the Commons and the Lords. | |
| The issue will now return to the Commons to be reconsidered by MPs, who have already rejected calls for the "meaningful vote" clause to be included in the legislation, saying verbal guarantees given by government on parliamentary scrutiny are sufficient. | |
| 'Choice on offer' | |
| Speaking in favour of the amendment, QC and crossbench peer Lord Pannick said it would enable Parliament to exercise some "control" over the process of withdrawal and fulfil its duty. | |
| "It must be for Parliament to decide whether to prefer no deal or the deal offered by the EU," he said. | |
| "It will guarantee that the Government must come back to both Houses and seek approval for the result of negotiations." | |
| But government minister Lord Bridges said once Article 50 was triggered, the process of leaving the EU was irrevocable and the amendment was totally unclear on what would happen if the UK and the EU were not able to agree a formal deal on the terms of exit. | |
| "We will leave with a deal or we will leave without a deal. That is the choice on offer." | |
| Parliament, he insisted, would not be left "in the dark" during the two-year process and would be able to shape future legislation on leaving the EU. | |
| He also argued the amendment would tie Theresa May's hands and make her task in getting a good deal "more difficult from day one". | |
| Reacting to the defeat, Brexit Secretary David Davis suggested peers were threatening the UK's aim of getting negotiations under way as soon as possible. | |
| "It is clear that some in the Lords would seek to frustrate that process, and it is the government's intention to ensure that does not happen," he said. | |
| "We will now aim to overturn these amendments in the House of Commons." |