How did Berkshire MPs vote in the recent Brexit bill?
Opposition parties have been accused of ‘siding with the EU’ by a Berskhire MP after parliament passed proposals to change parts of the Brexit bill.
The government’s controversial plans to overturn parts of the Northern Ireland Protocol were passed after a majority of MPs – 295 votes to 221 – voted in favor of it at its second reading, despite claims that this would violate international law.
The protocol outlines Northern Ireland’s post-Brexit trade deals, designed to prevent a hard border on the island of Ireland that would breach the Good Friday Agreement.
However, it does mean that goods entering Northern Ireland from Britain have been subject to EU-regulated customs checks which the UK government, backed by the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP), is seeking to change.
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Wokingham MP John Redwood voted in favor of the legislation as he claimed failure to do so would “damage the UK’s negotiating position”.
Mr Redwood said: “[…] opposition parties again sided with the EU and tried to undermine the UK’s negotiating position.
“They all ignored how the EU is undermining the Good Friday Agreement and breaking protocol by diverting trade from GB-NI.”
The MPs’ comments came after Maidenhead MP Theresa May said the legislation ‘is not legal’ and she ‘cannot support’ the bill.
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Ms May said: ‘I have to say to the government that this bill is not, in my view, legal under international law, it will not achieve its aims, it will diminish the position of the UK in the eyes of the world . ”
However, the former prime minister did not vote against the government and instead chose to abstain, along with dozens of other Tory MPs, hoping to change it later.
Conservative MP for Bracknell Forest James Sunderland voted in favor of passing the bill, while Labor MPs for East Reading Matt Rodda and Slough MP Singh Dhesi voted against.
Only Conservative Party and DUP members voted for the change, while all other parliamentary parties voted against, meaning it will go through third reading before being sent to the House of Lords.
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Prime Minister Boris Johnson believes the bill could pass by the end of the year and the government’s plan could be implemented ‘rather quickly’ and be in law by the end of the year of the year.
It aims to get it through the House of Commons before the summer recess in mid-July before being voted on in the House of Lords – where it is expected to face fierce opposition.
The EU said the move “damaged mutual trust” and was considering reviving legal proceedings against the UK’s “unilateral action”.