Earlier this year, the Farmers’ Union of Wales (FUW) urged for Members of Parliament to prevent the UK Government from introducing proposed changes to the Internal Market Bill which would breach the EU Withdrawal Agreement and break international law.
Without a change in direction, breaking international law would place the UK in the same category as countries that are generally considered as untrustworthy - a major setback in the current context while attempting to negotiate new international trade deals - despite the implications of this having been well understood at the time and discussed endlessly since before the referendum.
The House of Lords voted on the controversial sections of the Bill on 9 November. The section of the Bill which would have allowed Ministers to break international law and the clause allowing Ministers to override parts of the Brexit Withdrawal Agreement relating to Northern Ireland were defeated by 433 votes to 165 and 407 votes to 148 respectively, while other sections were removed without a vote.
However, the Government has already stated that these clauses would simply be reintroduced into the Bill once it returns to the House of Commons, saying that they represent a legal safety net to protect the UK Internal Market and avoid a hard Irish border, despite the fact that the EU has warned the Government to change its approach as trade talks continue.
Lords have also voted by 367 to 209 to amend parts of the Bill which would ensure that the devolved administrations have the ability to control a proportion of their own standards and so the UK Government does not snatch control from Brussels after the end of the transition period.
It’s likely that MPs won’t discuss the Bill again until December which by that point, it should be clearer as to which form of Brexit we have to deal with.