Lawmakers begin debate on Brexit

British MPs on Tuesday took a key step towards leaving the European Union, launching a debate on a bill that would empower Prime Minister Theresa May to trigger Brexit. Brexit minister David Davis presented the bill to parliament, giving MPs their first discussion on giving the government the power to trigger Article 50 of the […]

British MPs on Tuesday took a key step towards leaving the European Union, launching a debate on a bill that would empower Prime Minister Theresa May to trigger Brexit.

Brexit minister David Davis presented the bill to parliament, giving MPs their first discussion on giving the government the power to trigger Article 50 of the EU’s Lisbon Treaty, which opens two years of negotiations on leaving the bloc.

While the bill is expected to pass the lower House of Commons, it could be delayed in the upper House of Lords as May’s Conservative Party does not have a majority there.

The government had originally sought to bypass parliament, insisting it had the power to trigger Article 50 on its own, but the Supreme Court last week ruled it must consult lawmakers.

A majority of both houses of parliament opposed Brexit, but May has urged them to respect the result of the June referendum, when 52 percent of Britons voted to end the country’s four-decade membership of the EU.