LONDON (Reuters) – Prime Minister Boris Johnson suffered a heavy defeat in parliament’s upper chamber on Monday over proposed laws that would allow him to breach the terms of Britain’s European Union exit treaty.
The House of Lords voted 433 to 165 to remove a key clause in a section of the bill which would give ministers the power to unilaterally override parts of the exit treaty relating to Northern Ireland.
Other similar clauses are expected to be removed in a subsequent vote. But they can all be reinstated at a later stages of the legislative process if Johnson chooses to contest the lords’ decision, as he is expected to.
(Reporting by William James; Editing by Lincoln Feast.)
