Government publishes Article 50 bill

After the government lost its Supreme Court appeal, Article 50 must now be triggered by an Act of Parliament. As a result, Theresa May must now put a bill through Parliament on triggering Article 50 to take the UK out of the European Union.

Today the two-clause bill was given its first reading — and can now be published:

While the majority of MPs are not expected to block Brexit, many are hoping to amend the legislation so that it involves a range of caveats regarding the terms of Britain’s exit from the EU. In this vein, the SNP — before even seeing the bill — promised a whole 50 amendments, while there is expected to be Labour opposition too (though not necessarily from the Labour leader). At the second reading on Tuesday, more will be revealed on what this could mean for the bill when MPs have their first opportunity to debate the main principles of the bill.