Off the wire
• Urgent: Fast-track bill presented to parliament to pave way for Brexit  • Interview: Too early to oppose Mekong navigational improvement plan: expert  • Spotlight: Targeting Raqqa beyond Turkey's capacity and full of risks: analysts  • Interview: Media can play vital role in enhancing Sino-Afghan relations: journalist  • Algeria says colonial era mines all cleared  • Czech president sends best wishes for Chinese Lunar New Year  • Turkey says awaits results of U.S. study for safe zones in Syria  • Organizer of Asian Winter Games believes APA hotel will remove right-wing books  • Swiss watch exports drop almost 10 pct in 2016: report  • Indonesia to send young shuttlers to Asian mixed team championship  
You are here: 　 Home

1st LD: Fast-track bill presented to parliament to pave way for Brexit

Xinhua, January 26, 2017 Adjust font size:

The British government laid a brief bill before parliament Thursday to pave the way for Britain's exit from the European Union.

There was no debate when the bill was formally presented in a process that took less than one minute.

A parliament spokesman said the bill will be debated in the House of Commons on Tuesday and Wednesday, with further debates the following week.

The aim of the government is said to make the whole process to be fast tracked, be completed within weeks to enable Prime Minister Theresa May to trigger article 50, the process for exiting the EU, before the end of March.

May had hoped to trigger article 50 without parliamentary approval, but the Supreme Court has ruled that the government must first seek parliamentary agreement.

Official documents summarize the brief bill, saying it is a "bill to confer power on the prime minister to notify, under Article 50 of the Treaty on European Union, the United Kingdom's intention to withdraw from the EU." Endit