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Anti-Brexit MPs have been told off for singing the EU's anthem in an apparent protest as the House of Commons voted to trigger Article 50.

Members of the SNP were scolded for humming and whistling the homage to Brussels as Britain set its course for departure.

Some 494 MPs tonight backed the Prime Minister's 'Article 50 Bill', which will give her permission to begin Britain's two-year exit from the EU.

But all 54 Westminster members of the SNP opposed the law.

They argued Scotland voted by a majority for Remain and the Scottish Parliament was being denied a formal say in the negotiations.

The MPs were told off for singing Ode to Joy - the EU anthem once sung by Boris Johnson on the Brexit campaign trail.

They were even conducted in their singalong by SNP MP Patricia Gibson.

Deputy Speaker Lindsay Hoyle scolded the MPs, shouting: "Order!"

Turning to Ms Gibson he said: "It's very good to hold a choir, but what I would say is I don't mind singing, but I certainly can't allow it in the chamber.

"Because before we know it we could hear other tunes and I don't want to get into that."

He joked: "Some of them haven't quite got the voice on this side of the chamber.

"I don't want a sing-off!

"It's been a very tense week already. I just don't need any extra."

It came two nights after Mr Hoyle had a fierce clash with ex-SNP leader Alex Salmond, with the pair shouting at each other across the Commons chamber over the time slots given to Brexit scrutiny.

Ode to Joy was composed by Beethoven in 1823, well over a century before the EU existed, but the tune was adopted as a European anthem in the 1970s.