House of Lords okays bill to avoid no-deal Brexit

The British House of Lords on Monday approved a bill in order to avoid a no-deal Brexit on April 12, the latest date for Britain to leave the European Union (EU).

The bill that would force British Prime Minister 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.

The passage of the bill means the authority of May's government was further weakened as it would give MPs a chance to make legally binding changes to her requested departure date during a debate in the parliament on Tuesday.

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

If MPs in the House of 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 House of Lords for further debate.

Despite attempts to derail the bill with filibustering, the Article 50-extending motion was passed on Monday.

After the announcement, 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 House of Lords amended the bill to give the British 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 House of Commons, which passed the bill last Wednesday, by forcing a series of unsuccessful votes aimed at delaying the bill for greater scrutiny.