UK Government set for fresh Brexit defeat in the Lords

Peers are expected to inflict yet another defeat on the Government today - this time on proposals to prevent a hard Northern Irish border after Brexit.

An amendment to the landmark Brexit bill, which is currently passing through the Upper Chamber, would force ministers to consider the implications for the Good Friday Agreement when they take decisions relating to the island of Ireland.

It would also strengthen protections against new border infrastructure between Northern Ireland and the Republic.

The cross-party proposals were tabled by Tory peer Lord Patten and Labour peer Lord Murphy, among others.

The Government has so far suffered a series of humiliating defeats at the hands of the Lords over the EU Withdrawal Bill – with peers backing plans to remain part of a customs union with the EU and to give Parliament more say over the final Brexit deal.

But ministers have insisted that any changes to the legislation will be fiercely contested when it returns to the Commons.  

International Trade Secretary Liam Fox told the BBC yesterday: “We can’t have a situation where the clearly expressed will of the people in a referendum is thwarted by effectively procedural devices that would keep us in the EU indefinitely.”

The Prime Minister’s spokesman added: “There is a role for [the Lords] to play in providing scrutiny, but the British public have voted to leave the European Union and parliament needs to get on and deliver that.”

A fresh defeat today over the Northern Irish border will pile pressure on Theresa May, who must this morning try to reach agreement with her Brexit war cabinet over post-Brexit customs arrangements.