House of Lords approves Cooper-Letwin bill that would force PM to delay Brexit to avoid no-deal on April 12

Yvette Cooper’s backbench Bill that would force Theresa May to request a Brexit extension rather than leave the EU with no deal has cleared a major hurdle as it was passed in the House of Lords.

Peers gave the European Union (Withdrawal) (No 5) Bill an unopposed third reading after just 10 minutes of debate.

The bill – a bid to prevent a no-deal Brexit by extending the negotiation process beyond April 12 – passed the third reading stage by 280 – 46. 

The bill will now be sent back to the House of Commons where MPs will need to agree to amendments to the bill made in the Lords.

If MPs in the Commons agree, the bill will be granted royal assent and becomes law.

However if MPs disagree or suggest alternative changes, the bill will then be sent back to the Lords for further debate.

Despite attempts to derail the Private Member’s Bill with filibustering, the Article 50-extending motion was passed on Monday.

After the announcement, Ms Cooper tweeted: “Thank you to Lords for working so swiftly on this to help prevent our country stumbling into a damaging No Deal in just four days time.”

The Lords amended the bill to give the Government more flexibility on the length of the extension.

Pro-Brexit peers delivered long speeches designed to eat up debating time and prevent the bill from completing the necessary stages in time on Friday.

Several Tories were accused by the opposition of trying to “thwart” the will of the elected Commons, which passed the bill on Wednesday, by forcing a series of unsuccessful votes aimed at delaying the bill for greater scrutiny.

Lords leader Baroness Evans of Bowes Park said the Government still opposed the “unnecessary” measure.

Tory former leader Lord Howard of Lympne said: “This appalling piece of legislation is totally misconceived.”

Lord Howard said the “ludicrous” legislation aimed to constrain the Prime Minister’s exercise of the royal prerogative to make decisions on the exit date.

For Labour, Lord Goldsmith warned time was running out and it was critically important an extension was agreed before Friday.

Peers backed amendments to the Bill aimed at promoting legal certainty and avoiding the UK “accidentally” dropping out with no deal if the council came back with a counter proposal.

Another change made clear that nothing in the Bill prevented the Prime Minister from “seeking or agreeing” an extension, provided it was not earlier than May 22.

In the closing stages, Labour former Cabinet minister Lord Robertson of Port Ellen said it was a historic moment.

The UK was on the verge of talks which would determine the future of the country for generations to come and the Bill would play a part in that.

But Tory Lord Framlingham said it was all about “kicking the can down the road” when Britain should be leaving the EU with a “clean break” on Friday.

“This Bill is telling our Prime Minister what to do, a classic case of the tail wagging the dog and of constitutional chaos,” he said.

The Prime Minister is seeking a further Brexit delay to June 30 and EU leaders will discuss this at an emergency summit on Wednesday.