Barnier, Gove arrive as Brexit talks ongoing in UK

(10 Nov 2020) EU chief negotiator Michel Barnier was in London on Tuesday for further trade talks as the British government refused to withdraw legislation that breaks a legally binding Brexit treaty, despite a resounding rejection of the bill by the upper house of Parliament. The House of Lords voted by large margins late Monday to strip from the Internal Market Bill clauses that give the government power to break sections of the divorce agreement it signed with the European Union before the UK left the bloc in January. Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s government acknowledges that the bill breaches international law, and the legislation has been condemned by the EU, U.S. President-elect Joe Biden and scores of British lawmakers, including many from Johnson’s Conservative Party. The government said it would restore the rejected sections when the bill returns to the House of Commons in the coming weeks. It says the bill is needed as an insurance policy to ensure smooth trade among all parts of the U.K. - especially Northern Ireland, which shares a border with the EU - no matter what happens to U.K.-EU trade after Brexit. Find out more about AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/HowWeWork Twitter:   / ap_archive   Facebook:   / aparchives   ​​ Instagram:   / apnews   You can license this story through AP Archive: http://www.aparchive.com/metadata/you...