Boris Johnson’s legislation to scrap parts of the Northern Ireland Protocol has cleared its first Commons hurdle.
The bill passed by 295 votes to 221 despite attracting fierce criticism from a number of MPs on the Tory benches as well as the opposition.
Critics, who include former prime minister Theresa May, say the plan is illegal and threatens to spark a trade war with Europe.
The bill must now go through in-depth scrutiny by MPs and a further Commons vote and then pass to the Lords, before becoming law.
Earlier, Mrs May delivered a stinging rebuke to Boris Johnson’s plan to override parts of the protocol.
The former prime minister told fellow MPs she could not support the controversial legislation – which she said would be illegal, fail to achieve its aims, and diminish Britain’s standing in the world.
In an excoriating takedown of the plans, she even drew on her own experience as an embattled prime minister to suggest that European leaders may now be doubtful about her successor Mr Johnson’s future in Downing Street.
The protocol, which governs Northern Ireland’s post-Brexit trading arrangements, was designed to prevent the return of a hard border with the Republic of Ireland.
But it means some goods being exported from mainland Britain to Northern Ireland are subject to customs checks, creating problems for some businesses and upsetting unionists – resulting in political deadlock as the DUP refuses to re-enter power-sharing.
The UK government says it wants to renegotiate the deal, but accuses Brussels of intransigence and claims that it has no choice but to introduce legislation.
It contains measures to remove checks on goods and animal and plant products exported from Great Britain to Northern Ireland.