A parliamentary logjam will mean the government is likely to struggle to pass vital legislation paving the way for leaving the EU before the parliamentary vote on the final Brexit deal.
Almost half of all the legislation that is needed has yet to be even introduced by ministers.
MPs returned to parliament on Monday after the Easter recess – the 123rd day that parliament has sat since the general election – but the government is still to pass a single piece of Brexit legislation.
Parliament will only sit for another 80 days before MPs are expected to vote on the final Brexit deal struck between Theresa May and the European Union, scheduled for October.
The shadow Brexit minister, Jenny Chapman, said there was now “a real danger” that MPs would be ask to vote on the final Brexit deal without having approved crucial legislation, such as the immigration bill, and would be voting blind.
The prime minister has promised the UK parliament will be the first to ratify the deal, before it goes to the EU parliament and the other 27 states, though the timeline may slip.
Last June, May said this parliament would be a “busy legislative session.” In total, the government has only passed four bills from last year’s Queen’s speech. By comparison, the 2010 coalition government had passed twice as many laws at this stage of the parliament.
The general election delivered a hung parliament, leaving May able to pass bills only with the support of Northern Ireland’s Democratic Unionist party and dependent on the discipline of Conservative MPs.
In December, pro-EU Tory MPs defeated the government to guarantee parliament…
