Government suffers heavy defeats over controversial ‘law-breaking’ Brexit powers

Boris Johnson has suffered two major defeats over his controversial Brexit legislation, as peers stripped out powers that would enable ministers to break international law. The House of Lords voted 433 to 165, majority 268, to remove clause 42 – one of the disputed sections – and clause 43 was removed without a vote. They then voted 407 votes to 148, majority 259 to remove clause 44, relating to the Northern Ireland Protocol.