British MPs have voted in favour of triggering Article 50, backing Theresa May’s government and paving the way for Brexit.
498 MPs voted in favour of the Article 50 Bill, with 114 voting against, comfortably avoiding a “constitutional crisis” as feared by politicians like George Osborne.
Most MPs, including Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn, had pledged to vote in favour of the bill, in line with the wishes of 52% of voters in the EU Referendum. However, a few prominent MPs, such as Tory Ken Clarke and Lib Dem leader Tim Farron said they would vote against the bill.
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The next stage of the Brexit process will come tomorrow when the government publishes the Brexit white paper, which will lay out the process by which Britain will leave the European Union.
Prime Minister Theresa May reaffirmed her commitment to a ‘hard’ Brexit, stating that the UK would leave the single market and end freedom of movement.
The vote was the result of a legal challenge by a group of campaigners led by Gina Miller which went all the way to the Supreme Court. MPs will have one more vote on Brexit: to agree to the terms of leaving the EU set out by the government.
