Boris Johnson’s bid to effectively tear up parts of the Northern Ireland Protocol has cleared its first Commons hurdle, with no Tory MPs voting against it despite warnings the plans are illegal.
MPs voted 295 to 221, majority of 74, to give the Northern Ireland Protocol Bill a second reading, which clears the way for it to undergo detailed scrutiny in the coming weeks.
Voting lists showed that dozens of Conservative MPs abstained, joining former prime minister Theresa May, who made clear she would not support the legislation as she warned it would “diminish” the UK’s global standing and delivered a withering assessment of its legality and impact.
Truss
It was left to Liz Truss to face the music in the Commons, sort of.
As Labour MP Chris Bryant tweeted: “Very bad form. Liz Truss just left the chamber without listening to even two other speeches.
“Her bill gives enormous powers to the government without reference to parliament and she can’t even be bothered to listen to parliament.”
During the short time she spent trying to explain why the government has broken the law, Truss came up with an excuse that doesn’t seem to have gone down that well.
Truss told the house she is “a patriot and a democrat,” which is why she ripped up parts of the protocol.
Try that with a police officer if you are ever arrested!
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Reactions
Excuses like that get reactions like this:
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Related: Poll of polls show Brits have officially turned against Brexit