BORIS JOHNSON has suffered a major defeat in the House of Lords as he attempted to get his amended Withdrawal Bill passed.
Earlier this year, the UK Prime Minister was the focus of serious criticism-- both in the UK, abroad and even within his own party-- as it was revealed he was planning to override key parts of the EU Withdrawal Agreement.
This 'overriding', which by the Northern Ireland Secretary's own admission broke international law, risked the integrity of the Good Friday Agreement, could potentially see the return of a hard border in Ireland and threatened the peace which has prevailed in the north since the signing of the GFA.
Since Mr Johnson confirmed that this was in fact the government's plan, multiple top politicians in the United States have reiterated time and again that, should the UK's Brexit plans undermine the Good Friday Agreement, there will be no UK-US trade deal.
This warning was echoed by Nancy Pelosi, top Congressmen and women, and Joe Biden, however Donald Trump remaied open to a trade deal.
Yesterday, days after Joe Biden won the 2020 US Presidential Election, the House of Lords voted on the two sets of proposed amendments which would have undermined the Withdrawal Agreement signed by Boris Johson in 2019.
The first vote led to a 433 to 165 defeat; in the second vote, 407 voted against and 148 voted in favour.
Prime Minister Boris Johnson has been defeated in the House of Lords, as a landslide majority voted against the amendments to the Withdrawal BillFollowing the vote in the House of Lords, Labour politician Angela Smith said: "I am sure some in government will initially react with bravado and try to dismiss tonight's historic votes in the Lords.
"To do so however, would underestimate the genuine and serious concerns across the UK and beyond about ministers pitting themselves above and beyond the rules of law."
The saga is not over, however: in December, MPs will have the chance to put forward the clauses, including the Northern Ireland clause, again-- and MPs are planning to do just that, according to Politico.
The outlet reports that a spokesperson said: "We've been consistently clear that he clauses represent a legal safety net to protect the integrity of the U.K.’s internal market and the huge gains of the peace process."
The European Union had begun legal action against the UK following the British Government's plan to breach international laws.
