Theresa May wins crucial vote in UK Parliament to trigger Brexit

TIL Desk World/London/British Prime Minister Theresa May has won a crucial vote in the UK Parliament, which will give her the authority to officially trigger Brexit and start negotiations for leaving the 28-member European Union. The European Union (Notification of Withdrawal) Bill had its final debate and vote last night to allow the British Prime Minister to invoke Article 50 of the Lisbon Treaty to begin a two-year period of negotiations for the UK’s new deal as a non-member of the European Union by 2019.

The draft legislation was approved by 494 votes to 122, and now moves to the House of Lords. Shadow business secretary Clive Lewis was one of 52 Labour MPs to defy party orders to back the bill and he resigned from the front bench. The Commons debated the last set of amendments to the Bill, including on key principles for the negotiation process, before the bill went on to its third and final reading for the vote.

So far the bill had passed two days of debate in the Lower House of the UK Parliament without being altered. The Opposition Labour leader, Jeremy Corbyn, had instructed his MPs to vote in favour of the bill whether any amendments are made or not.