Boris Johnson’s proposal to tear up part of the Brexit treaty with the European Union has cleared its first parliamentary hurdle, amid a rebellion from Tory MPs.
The Internal Market Bill passed by 340 votes to 263 on its second reading in the House of Commons. Two Tory MPs — Sir Roger Gale and Andrew Percy — voted against the Bill, while 30 did not cast a vote although some may have been “paired” with opposition MPs
Further crunch votes are expected next week.
The prime minister had urged his party to support the bill in the Commons.
During the five-hour debate in the Commons yesterday, Mr Johnson, said: “I have absolutely no desire to use these measures … They are an insurance policy.”
But senior Conservative MPs lined up to warn they could not back the plans after a minister admitted last week that they could breach international law.
Former chancellor Sajid Javid and former attorney general Geoffrey Cox were among those who made it clear they would not support the bill in its current form.
In a bid to head off a growing revolt, Mr Johnson told MPs they would have an extra vote before the controversial powers were used.
But a number of rebels made it clear the move had done little to ease their concerns.
Former Tory ministers Jeremy Wright and Andrew Mitchell warned the government that the measures would weaken the UK’s authority on the world stage.
Conservative MP for Wakefield Imran Ahmad Khan also became the first of the new 2019 intake of MPs to announce he would not vote for the bill.
Mr Mitchell told MPs he had in the past voted in ways he later regretted, including for Section 28, for the poll tax and for the Iraq War.
“But I don’t believe I’ve ever gone into a lobby to vote in a way that I knew was wrong and I won’t be doing it on this occasion either,” he said.
Other MPs appeared to express more general dissatisfaction with their government.
Tory MP Charles Walker told the Commons: “I’m not going to be voting for this bill. Because if you keep whacking a dog don’t be surprised when it bites you back.”
Ed Milliband, business spokesman for the Labour Party, accused Johnson of “trashing the reputation of this country and trashing the reputation of his office”.
