The Tory chief whip is understood to have told his party’s MPs that the EU Withdrawal Bill will be returning to the Commons in early to mid-June.
Lords have voted through no fewer than 15 amendments to the bill, each of which the government will be keen to reverse. They include the peers’ parting shot to reject the government’s plans for a new environment protection regime.
As the elected chamber, the House of Commons holds sway over the upper house. And while there is likely to be widespread parliamentary support for the Lords’ move to maintain EU environmental safeguards, the amendment may not survive the political bunfight about to break out over the bill.
Labour’s Brexit spokesman Keir Starmer didn’t mention the environmental protection clause when he outlined the amendments the opposition would prioritise when the bill returns to the Commons, top of which is staying in the EU customs union.
However, environment secretary Michael Gove is clearly stung by criticism of the government’s proposed regime, judging by the letter leaked last week to the Telegraph, which laid the blame at the door of the Treasury and BEIS for watering down environmental protections.
As the end game approaches for the bill, this week looks like the calm before the storm.