May defeated in Lords on human rights and post-Brexit powers

27 April 2018

The EU (Withdrawal) Bill has suffered a battering in the House of Lords this week, with peers voting down several proposals put forth by May’s government.

Two of the most significant votes concerned the EU Charter of Fundamental Human Rights and new ministerial powers to unilaterally amend the law during the Brexit process.

The government has announced it plans to withdraw from the EU Charter of Fundamental Human Rights, which provides stronger rights to trade unions and extra protection to ensure that human rights cannot be diluted in domestic law.

But its plan was defeated in the Lords, where 316 peers voted for a motion to retain the Charter, against 245 who opposed it.

Crossbencher Lord Pannick, who sponsored the amendment to keep the Charter, accused the government of having “no coherent defence” of their position, which he described as “unprincipled and unjustified”.

“I fear the government is seeking to make an exception for rights under the charter because the government is suspicious of the very concept of fundamental rights,” he said.

Further, the Lords voted overwhelmingly to curb the powers ministers are given to amend post-Brexit laws.

A majority of 128 peers voted to defeat a proposal that would allow ministers to change EU laws on the basis of what they “considered appropriate”, rather than what is justified. The amendment was carried by a vote of 349 to 221.