David Davis admits he expects House of Lords to amend Brexit bill but claims Theresa May will still hit Article 50 deadline
Brexit Secretary said he expected the legislation to be sent back and forth between the Commons and the upper chamber
DAVID Davis admits he expects the House of Lords to amend the Brexit bill as he says fellow ministers are braced for a battle to get it passed.
The Brexit Secretary said he expected some parliamentary "ping pong", with the Article 50 legislation being sent back and forth between the Commons and the upper chamber.
But despite suggesting he expected peers to defeat the Government and make changes to the tightly-worded bill, he insisted it would clear the Lords in time for Theresa May to meet her deadline for triggering EU exit talks by the end of March.
Mr Davis also moved to reassure EU citizens living in the UK discussion of their rights, and those of Britons on the continent, to be the first item on the negotiating table.
That would cover issues including social support and healthcare, he said.
Speaking at a press conference in Stockholm with Sweden's EU minister Ann Linde, the Cabinet minister highlighted how the European Union (Notification Of Withdrawal) Bill had passed through the Commons "very straightforwardly" with "very solid majorities".
But Mr Davis, who has previously said peers have a "patriotic duty" to pass the Bill, insisted they would be allowed to do their job of scrutinising the legislation and, with the Government lacking a majority in the upper house, acknowledged there could be defeats for ministers.
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He said the Commons had reached "very clear decisions" and "because of that I expect the upper house, it will do its job of scrutiny, we'll have some passing backwards and forward, we call it ping pong, you can imagine why, backwards and forwards of the Bill, but I expect that to be resolved in good time before the end of March."
He added he was "confident" Article 50 would be triggered on the Government's timetable, but that did not mean the formal notification would be given at the scheduled summit of EU leaders on March 9.
Ms Linde added her voice to concerns about the rights of EU nationals in the UK, pointing out around 100,000 Swedes live in the UK and 30,000 Britons reside in Sweden.
She said they "must not become a bargaining chip" in the Brexit negotiations.
Mr Davis said he wanted the situation resolved as quickly as possible, adding: "I don't see any reason for anybody else to hold this up, once the negotiation starts properly."
Pressed on the possibility of the UK facing a Brexit fee, reportedly up £51billion, Mr Davis said: "We are a law abiding nation, we meet our responsibilities but we are going into a negotiation, so you would not expect me to respond immediately to that.
"We want to have a mutually beneficial long-term outcome and if we have a mutually beneficial long-term outcome I believe all issues can be resolved."