The UK House of Commons [official website] voted 324-295 [vote count] on Wednesday to pass the European Union (Withdrawal) Bill [text, PDF], also known as as the “Brexit” bill, after concluding its third and final reading [text] of the bill.

This is the primary bill that the parliament must pass to successfully accomplish UK’s withdrawal from the EU, and, among other things, repeals the European Communities Act of 1972 (ECA) [text, PDF], transfers four decades of EU-derived domestic legislation and direct EU legislation into UK statutes so as to continue their legal effect in the UK post exit, preserves any rights, powers, liabilities, obligations, restrictions, remedies and procedures guaranteed by the ECA, and eliminates the precedential effect of any judgments or orders put forth by the EU courts.

The UK has been slowly progressing on its plans to withdraw from the EU since the Brexit vote [JURIST report] in June 2016. The parliament first published [JURIST report] this bill in July to sever political, financial and legal ties with the EU. In September Prime Minister Theresa May [official website] released a statement on Facebook [JURIST report] saying the bill will allow for a stabilized withdrawal from the EU as they enter into official negotiations.

The vote on the bill concluded at 7:13 PM on Wednesday after more than 500 amendments and 80 hours of debate [First Post report], and the bill now proceeds to the House of Lords [official website] despite opposition from the Labor Party and Scottish National Party [party websites]. The upper house is set to begin deliberations on the bill on January 30.