Theresa May will table fast-track legislation this week to keep her Brexit plan on track after suffering a defeat in the UK Supreme Court that ruled she could not trigger an exit from the EU without the consent of parliament.
The British prime minister is expected to publish a concise bill on Thursday to give her full authority to invoke Article 50, the EU treaty’s divorce clause, at her discretion. She will try to push it through both the House of Commons and House of Lords by mid-March, allowing her to stick to her original timetable and trigger Brexit by the end of that month.
The Supreme Court defeat was a setback for Mrs May, since it will allow MPs and peers to tie her hands in the Brexit negotiations by tabling amendments to what Brexit minister David Davis said would be “a straightforward bill”.