The British government presents a bill to get the power to trigger Article 50

In an judgment, the British Supreme Court considered that a prior 'Act of Parliament' was required for the Prime Minister, Theresa May, to give notice to the European Union of the United Kingdom’s intention to withdraw from the EU Treaties.

To satisfy the Court's requirement, the 'European Union (Notification of Withdrawal) Bill' was presented by David Davis, UK's Secretary of State for Exiting the EU, to the House of Commons of the British Parliament and given its First Reading yesterday. First Reading stage is formal and takes place without debate, British MPs will debate its overall principles at Second Reading on Tuesday 31 January and Wednesday 1 February.

The Bill is provisionally scheduled to be considered in a Committee of the whole House on Monday 6, Tuesday 7, and Wednesday 8 February. The Report Stage and Third Reading are provisionally scheduled to take place on Wednesday 8 February.

After approval, the new law will confer power on the Prime Minister, Theresa May, to notify to the European Council, under Article 50(2) of the Treaty on European Union, the United Kingdom’s intention to withdraw from the EU.

On 2 October 2016 the Prime Minister announced that the Government would commence the formal process of leaving the European Union before the end of March 2017.

This is the text of the bill which applies in relation to, England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland:

European Union (Notification of Withdrawal) Bill. UK.