January 2018
The Government has already said that MPs would have at least three formal opportunities to have a say on the UK's withdrawal from the EU, in addition to the many debates that take place in Parliament every week.
Before Amendment 7 was voted on, my ministerial colleagues had said that MPs would have a vote on whether to accept the final deal or not as soon as possible after the end of the negotiations. It is still the intention that this should take place and before the European Parliament votes on the agreement.
The Prime Minister had also separately promised that a Bill would be brought forward so that the withdrawal agreement reached with the EU could be put into UK domestic law. This would present MPs with a further chance to debate, scrutinise and vote on the deal reached with the EU.
Naturally, then, I was disappointed that my colleague Dominic Grieve MP, with the support of the Labour Party, the SNP and the Liberal Democrats, pressed ahead with his amendment. However, this will not stop, delay or reverse the Government's decision to leave the EU, in accordance with the wishes of the majority of British people.
