Look ahead: Withdrawal Bill faces difficult passage in the House of Lords

Katie Milne looks at what to expect over the next fortnight.

Next week, the European Union (Withdrawal) Bill will have its second reading in the House of Lords. The Bill faces a difficult passage, with Peers set to debate further amendments that are opposed by the Government. Appearing before the Committee for Exiting the European Union yesterday, Brexit Secretary David Davis MP told MPs that it is taking longer than planned to agree changes to the EU Withdrawal Bill because the Government “has got to get it right.”

What a “right” withdrawal will look like remains unclear. With the UK set to leave the EU in March 2019, Davis caused some confusion when he confirmed that the UK would be subject to the European Court of Justice during a transition period. A deal on the transition is due in March but, given the delay in talks to date, this deadline may not be worth betting on.

Following January’s reshuffle, the new Education Secretary, Damian Hinds MP, and the new Work and Pensions Secretary, Esther McVey MP, will face their first questions in the Commons. Hinds is one to watch following the sacking of his predecessor Justine Greening MP, whose views on education reforms differed from those of the Prime Minister, and who refused to budge from the Department for Education to Work and Pensions during the reshuffle. Keep an ear to the ground for changes to current restrictions on grammar schools – whilst Greening was privately unenthusiastic about grammar school expansion, Hinds is a former grammar school pupil believed to be in favour of academic selection.

Also in Parliament, MPs will debate motions relating to the much-needed restoration and renewal of the Palace of Westminster. Given that the programme will be the biggest renovation of a single building that the country has ever seen, it comes with a huge potential cost of £4 billion. The coming fortnight will see a vote on whether to press ahead with the full or partial “decant” of the Commons and Lords during the works, with MPs considering which option will be the most cost-effective.