Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn has ordered his MPs to vote with the government, according to the BBC.
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Once it clears parliament the bill will move to the upper chamber, the House of Lords, where it will be debated from February 20 and it is expected to be approved there by March 7.
“I think it’s clearly very hard for MPs across the country who find themselves stuck between the interests of their constituents and the overall position of the country”.
The worst possible position – and it was repeated by numerous Labour spokespeople over the weekend – is to make it part of some sort of electoral calculation: as though, only by voting with the government – ignoring its own policies, its own MPs and most of its own supporters – can Labour escape the accusation that it is ignoring the majority.
Speaker Bercow said 99 MPs wanted to speak in Tuesday’s session, with more wanting to have a say Wednesday.
Two days later the United Kingdom government on Thursday published its “Brexit bill”, which paves the way for Britain’s exit from the EU.
Opposition parties are now concentrating on getting the government to concede points voluntarily, with Labour MPs believing the most likely proposal to be accepted is a demand for May to provide quarterly updates to parliament on the process of negotiations.
Labour – whose MPs are nearly entirely in favour of staying in the European Union, baring mavericks such as Kate Hoey – is the party most split on the issue, however.
Brexit Secretary David Davis urged MPs not to oppose the bill ahead of the debate. They are often swayed by mass petitions – some MPs employ staff whose sole job it is to sift through emails from 38 Degrees and other organisations – and speak often of “taking the politics out” of decisions, which is a curiously self-loathing way of saying “you have elected us but we do not trust ourselves to do what you’ve asked”.
Dozens of MPs are attempting to kill off Brexit as they begin the debate on whether to pass a bill triggering Britain’s exit from the EU.
Despite a small backbench Labour rebellion and opposition from the Scottish National Party’s 54 MPs, the nine Liberal Democrats and the sole Green MP, Theresa May’s government stands nearly no chance of being defeated on the 137-word bill. The majority voted to leave the European Union.
The vote, which will follow two days of parliamentary debate, is expected at about 19:00 GMT.
In another passionate anti-Brexit speech, former Lib Dem leader Nick Clegg accused the government of pandering to “the eye-popping vitriol and bile we see every day from people like Mr Dacre, the Daily Mail editor, and other members of the monied elite”.
A new poll, commissioned by the Open Britain campaign, found that 51 per cent of people would want negotiations to continue if Parliament decides the final agreement is not good enough.
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The debate will resume after Prime Minister’s Questions and later MPs will vote first on a Scottish National Party bid to block the bill, then on whether to give it a second reading and finally on a timetable motion for the bill’s committee stage next week.
