Internal Market Bill Passes Commons, Faces Tough Challenge In The Lords

The United Kingdom Internal Market Bill (UKIM), the controversial legislation that threatens to override the Brexit Withdrawal Agreement in relation to the Northern Ireland protocol, has passed in Parliament's lower chamber, the House of Commons by a margin of 340 votes to 256.

• The Bill will now go onto the upper chamber, the House of Lords. The gov't does not hold a majority in the Lords, and as such faces a stiff challenge in getting the legislation approved.
• The Lords could seek to scupper the bill entirely by voting it down at a second reading, but this is viewed as an unlikely option. The Lords, as an unelected chamber, proves very reluctant to vote against gov't legislation outright, instead preferring to submit amendments to the bill which would then return to the Commons for MPs to vote on.
• According to The Times, the UKIM Bill will not face its second reading in the Lords until October 12 at the earliest, just days before the European Council summit on October 15-16, which is being billed as the make-or-break point for a deal to be reached on an EU-UK FTA.
• There is some speculation that should a deal be reached imminently, the controversial passages of the UKIM Bill will be removed by the gov't.
• After a second reading in the Lords, the Bill would go to committee and report stages, allowing for amendments, which would then be passed back to the Commons for approval/rejection. Due to this lengthy process it appears unlikely the UKIM Bill could be passed into law before December.