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Lords Brexit bill debate enters second day

The House of Lords' debate on the Brexit bill has entered its second day, with 190 peers expected to speak on the European Union (Notification Of Withdrawal) Bill's second reading during the debate.

The legislation would allow the Prime Minister to trigger the formal two-year Brexit process and has already cleared the Commons unamended with big majorities,

However, the Government does not have an in-built majority in the upper chamber and a number of peers are believed to be ready to rewrite the Bill.

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Mandelson: I voted to remain because I am a patriot

The Labour peer argued that Britain would be worse outside the EU

Former EU commissioner Lord Mandelson has said he did not vote to stay in the bloc because of his pension rights but because he was "a patriot".

The Labour peer, who served as business secretary, also argued that Britain would be worse outside the EU, saying that claims the UK would enjoy the same trade benefits after breaking with Brussels amounted to "a fraud on the public".

He said that those who voted to leave the EU had not voted "to turn Britain into a poorer, politically isolated offshore tax haven, without reach or influence in the world".

"And once they see the consequences they may, and I stress may, want to think again about the outcome of the government's chosen path and Parliament's job will be to reflect that change of view and create the means of expressing it," he said.

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Lords Brexit bill debate enters second day

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