A fresh attempt to force a second referendum on the terms of the Brexit deal will be launched in the House of Lords as peers attempt to rewrite the Article 50 Bill.
The Liberal Democrats, who have more than 100 peers, will push for a second public vote as well as a guarantee on the rights of EU citizens to continue to live and work in the UK.
The UK Government is braced for a battle in the Lords, where it does not have a majority, after the European Union (Notification of Withdrawal) Bill passed through the Commons unscathed this week.
Brexit Secretary David Davis has warned the House of Lords to do its "patriotic duty" and back the legislation, although Number 10 has played down suggestions from within the UK Government of a threat to abolishthe upper chamber if the Bill's progress was hampered.
Lord Newby, the Lib Dem leader in the Lords, said: "The Liberal Democrats will fight to ensure that the Brexit Bill does not get a rubber-stamped through the House of Lords. It is our job to scrutinise legislation and we will not be silenced in the Lords.
"The Government are doing all they can to ensure that the Brexit deal is made behind closed doors and that the people of this country are not given a voice.
"We will stand up for democracy and stand up for the people's right to have the final say on this country's future," he declared.
The Bill heads to the Lords on February 20, but the real battle is set to be fought in the report stage debate and the final third reading on March 7.
Labour has already set out a series of changes it wants to make to the legislation, including its own call for EU citizens' rights to be protected.
The Opposition's leader in the Lords, Baroness Smith of Basildon said her peers would not "seek to block or sabotage the start of this process".
But she added: "The Lords, as always, will challenge and scrutinise legislation put before us and if necessary we will pass amendments on issues where we wish the Commons to take another look.
"That is our role as the unelected House, and we will not be cowed by threats of abolition or flooding the place with hundreds of new Tory peers.
"The stakes are too high and we will do our duty."
Meantime, the SNP, which has no representation in the Lord, claimed Theresa May and her colleagues were more interested in appeasing Ukip than doing the right thing for families as the party denounced the UK Government for treating EU nationals living in Britain “disgracefully”.
Stephen Gethins, the Nationalists’ Europe spokesman, said: “During the debates, the SNP sought to amend the Government’s Bill to protect many of the benefits that we enjoy as EU citizens. However in particular, we wanted to give EU Nationals who have made Scotland and other parts of the UK their home the certainty that they would be able to remain.
"EU Nationals contribute financially in terms of paying more tax than they get back in services and enrich our communities by making them better places to live and work. We should be proud that so many choose to make Scotland their home.”
But the Fife MP said this has been rejected by the Tory Government, which seemed “more intent on appeasing UKIP than doing the right thing to these families; the treatment is nothing short of a disgrace”.
He added: "It is damaging to our economy and acts as a deterrent to the top talent that we need to recruit. However, it is more than that; it is damaging on a human level to those who live and work here, have children in our schools and have given back so much to their new home. They deserve better.”
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