Government defeated by Lords over Brexit Bill
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Read the article and answer the questions below
The government has been defeated after the House of Lords said ministers
should guarantee EU nationals' right to stay in the UK after Brexit.
The vote, by 358 to 256, is the first Parliamentary defeat for the
government's Brexit bill.
However, MPs will be able to remove their changes when the bill returns
to the House of Commons.
Ministers say the issue is a priority but must be part of a deal
protecting UK expats overseas.
The bill will give Theresa May the authority to trigger Brexit under
Article 50 of the Lisbon Treaty and begin official negotiations.
The amendment backed by the Lords requires the government to introduce
proposals within three months of Article 50 to ensure EU citizens in the UK
have the same residence rights after Brexit.
But it could be overturned when MPs, who have already backed the Brexit
bill without amendments, vote on it again.
"The bill has a straightforward purpose - to enact the referendum
result and allow the government to get on with the negotiations."
The government said its position had "repeatedly been made
clear", saying it wanted to guarantee the rights of EU citizens and
British nationals "as early as we can".
Ahead of the vote, the government made a last-minute attempt to persuade
peers not to change the draft legislation.
Brexit Minister Lord Bridges said the government had been keen to reach
an agreement with other EU nations on the issue.
However, he said, "a small number of our European
counterparts" insisted there could be no discussions until the formal
Brexit talks begin once Article 50 had been invoked.
But most peers wanted a
unilateral move from the UK government.
Labour's shadow Brexit minister
Lady Hayter said the concerns of EU nationals here and British expats living in
Europe shouldn't be "traded against each other".
She added: "These people
need to know now - not in two years' time or even 12 months' time. They simply
can't put their lives on hold."
Seven Conservative peers voted in
favour of the amendment, which was proposed by Labour with the support of the
Liberal Democrats.
Among those opposing it during
the sometimes heated exchanges was former Conservative cabinet minister Lord
Tebbit, who said the debate seemed to focus on "nothing but the rights of
foreigners".
Shortly after the Lords vote,
MEPs in the European Parliament debated the status of EU migrants in the UK.
Justice Commissioner Vera Jourova
told MEPs that EU citizens in UK and British citizens elsewhere in the EU
"deserve to know that their rights will be" after Brexit.
She said the matter should be
addressed "as soon as possible" but that negotiations could only
begin after the UK has triggered Article 50.
Questions
Why has the Lords voted against
the Brexit bill?
What was the number of peers who
voted in the debate?
What was the result?
Why have ministers been reluctant
to clarify the rights the rights of EU nationals living in the UK?
What will the bill allow Theresa
May to do?
What has Lady Hayter said about
the rights of EU nationals?
Which party proposed the
amendment?
What was Lord Tebitt’s position
on the bill and what did he say?
Using the bar chart above, how
many Polish, Italian and Bulgarian EU nationals live in the UK?
