Labour's Bid to Amend Key Brexit Bill Goes Down to Defeat

The Labour Party’s attempt to vote down the government’s proposed amendment to Brexit legislation and make it harder to change employment rights, environmental protection and other EU regulations following Britain’s exit from the European Union has been defeated in the House of Commons.

The parliamentary debate on the issue is not yet over, however, as the MPs have six more days to finalize the matter.

If passed, the amendment, earlier proposed by Brexit Secretary David Davis, will bring existing EU law into UK law and empower the government to change it, bypassing parliament.

This provision has invited strong criticism by Labour, which wants to make sure that EU laws could only be changed through primary legislation requiring full debates in the House of Commons, Sky News reported.

In an effort to allay the opposition’s fears concerning the negative impact the government’s bill could pose to UK citizens working in the EU and EU nationals employed in Britain, Solicitor General Robert Buckland said Brexit would "in no way whatsoever be used to undermine or curtail the rights of workers that have been enshrined both in domestic law and in law by virtue of the EU.”

READ MORE: Crunch Time: Brexit Bill Put on UK Parliament's Table

Meanwhile, Prime Minister Theresa May went on record as saying that she was “listening carefully to those who wish to improve the bill."

"I hope that we can all come together to deliver on the decision that the country took, that we should leave the European Union,” she added.

In the meantime, the timetable of Brexit talks could be pushed back again to the EU summit with Brussels saying it will not discuss trade and future relations with Britain until the rights of EU citizens, the divorce bill, and the issue of the Northern Ireland border are sufficiently settled.