Boris Johnson will use his majority to overturn Lords on Brexit – but this will only make him look cruel The Withdrawal Agreement Bill is returning to the Commons after five government defeats in the Lords

The Conservatives may have an 80-seat working majority in the Commons, but this week Boris Johnson was reminded that the Lords still have the power to hold his government to account.

Peers defeated the government five times in total over its Brexit bill – on issues defending the rights of child refugees and EU citizens.

When the Withdrawal Agreement Bill returns to the Commons on Wednesday, it is likely that MPs will easily overturn those five defeats, with the Prime Minister keen to show his new majority is unassailable.

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Yet the risk for Mr Johnson is that such a brutal dismissal of the Lords’ amendments appears cruel and uncaring, particularly when he has made great play, since winning his electoral landslide last month, of uniting the country again after Brexit.

Safeguards for child refugees

One of the amendments introduced in the Lords was by Lord Dubs, a former child refugee himself, to ensure the rights of unaccompanied child refugees to be reunited with their families in the UK after Brexit.

Downing Street claims there will still be protections for these children, in other legislation.

They point out that the Tory election manifesto underlined a commitment to continue to grant asylum and support for refugees fleeing persecution.

Yet Lord Dubs, an expert on the issue, and other members of the upper chamber believe the safeguards for unaccompanied child refugees need to be bolted into the Brexit legislation. It is arguable that their opinion on this should be listened to by ministers.

Other Lords defeats the government is planning to overturn include on the rights of EU workers legally residing in the UK to have physical proof of their right to remain, and on the powers of courts to depart from European Court of Justice rulings.

There was also a move introduced in the Lords to commit to the Sewel Convention on ensuring that the UK parliament does not legislate for devolved matters without the consent of the assembly or parliament in question.

‘Mean and nasty’

Yet Mr Johnson, after years of Brexiteers insisting that the UK has to be freed from such institutions like the ECJ, has to deliver on his promise to them made during the 2016 referendum campaign.

Ministers keep saying they are, with this new majority, prepared to make the “hard decisions” on Brexit, and the economy, social care and infrastructure, in order to get things right. It is part of the Prime Minister’s plan to play the long game – making unpopular decisions simply because his majority allows him to.

That doesn’t make his government’s refusal to allow the Dubs amendment on child refugees look any less heartless.

As Lord Dubs said during Tuesday’s debate: “Either the government is mean and nasty or they are giving the impression of being mean and nasty; they could quite easily change that impression by accepting this amendment.”