Opposition parties were accused of ‘siding with the EU’ by one Berskhire MP after parliament voted through proposals to change parts of the Brexit bill. 

The controversial government plans to override segments of the Northern Ireland Protocol were passed by after a majority of MPs – 295 votes to 221 – voted in favour at its second reading, despite claims that it would break international law. 

The protocol outlines Northern Ireland’s post-Brexit trading arrangements, designed to prevent a hard border on the island of Ireland which would breach the Good Friday Agreement. 

However, it has meant that goods entering Northern Ireland from Great Britain have been subject to EU regulated customs checks which the UK government, supported by the Democratic Unionist Party (DUP), seeks to change. 

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Wokingham MP John Redwood voted in favour of the legislation as he claimed not doing would “damage the UK’s negotiating position.” 

Mr Redwood said: “[…] the Opposition parties once again sided with the EU and tried to damage the UK negotiating position.  

“They all ignored the way the EU undermines the Good Friday Agreement and breaks the Protocol by diverting trade away from GB-NI.”  

The MPs comments came after the MP for Maidenhead Theresa May said the legislation “is not legal” and she “cannot support” the bill. 

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Mrs May said: “I have to say to the gov’t this bill is not, in my view, legal in international law, it will not achieve its aims, it will diminish the standing of the UK in the eyes of the world.” 

However, the former Prime Minister did not vote against the government and instead chose to abstain, along with dozens of other Conservative MPs, with the hope of amending it at a future stage. 

The Conservative MP for Bracknell Forest, James Sunderland, voted in favour of the bill passing, whilst the Labour MPs for East Reading, Matt Rodda, and Slough, Singh Dhesi, voted against it. 

Only members from the Conservative Party and DUP voted for the change, whilst all other parliamentary parties voted against, meaning it will go to a third reading before being passed to the House of Lords. 

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Prime Minister Boris Johnson believes the bill could be passed by the end of the year and the government’s plan could be carried out “fairly rapidly” and be on the statute books by the end of the year.  

He aims to get it through the House of Commons before the summer recess in mid-July before being voted on in the House of Lords – where it is expected to face stern opposition. 

The EU said the move “is damaging to mutual trust” and is considering restarting legal proceedings against the UK’s “unilateral action.”