Commons Brexit battle will be "over by Christmas", claims Andrea Leadsom

MPs will finish their line-by-line assessment of key Brexit legislation by Christmas, Commons leader Andrea Leadsom said today.

The Commons leader and arch-Brexiteer said the eighth and final day of the European Union (Withdrawal) Bill’s committee stage will be December 20 – the penultimate sitting day before the Christmas recess.

The Bill, which seeks to transfer European law into British law, has completed three days at committee and has yet to be amended despite numerous concerns among Tory MPs.

Mrs Leadsom confirmed the timetable in her weekly statement outlining business in the Commons.

The government’s lack of a majority following Theresa May’s botched election has seen concessions offered to avert potential defeats, including over how rights will be protected post-Brexit.

Former attorney general Dominic Grieve and former minister Anna Soubry, two prominent Remainers, are among the senior Tory backbenchers who have raised repeated concerns about different parts of the proposed legislation.

Speaking in the Commons, Mrs Leadsom said committee stage was provisionally scheduled to resume on December 4.

Day five of committee stage is scheduled for December 6, day six on December 12 and day seven on December 13, Mrs Leadsom added.

Some MPs cheered as the Tory frontbencher confirmed December 20 as the final day of the Bill’s committee stage.