LONDON, May 2 (Xinhua) -- Britain's House of Lords inflicted its 10th defeat against Theresa May's government Wednesday by backing a move to prevent a hard border in Northern Ireland.
The Lords backed an amendment by 309 votes to 242, preventing the government from implementing any deal on its withdrawal from the European Union (EU) that undermined the Northern Ireland peace agreement or led to a hard border between Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland.
The border issue has become one of the most contentious issues in negotiations between Britain and the EU over the post-Brexit working arrangements.
The border between the two parts of the island of Ireland will become the only EU land border with Britain after Brexit.
In the debate, Labour's Lord Murphy said all sides in Ireland want to avoid the return of a hard border, saying the cross-party amendment is providing for what everyone wants.
Northern Ireland Office minister Lord Duncan said the government will not allow a border to be put in place in the North Sea, and he urged the EU's chief Brexit negotiator Michel Barnier to listen to both communities in Northern Ireland. Duncan said the government is firmly committed to the peace agreement which brought 30 years of troubles and conflict to an end.
The Guardian reported that 19 Conservatives rebelled by backing the amendment against the government. The rebels included former deputy prime minister, Lord Michael Heseltine.
Lord Newby, leader in the House of Lords of the minority Liberal Democrats, said the vote recognised that the issue of the Northern Ireland border is of paramount importance.
"We cannot risk Conservative incompetence and Brexit dogma creating a hard border, and we will not allow years of strong relations within these islands to be jeopardised by Brexit," he said.
Labour's shadow Brexit minister, Jenny Chapman, said: "This vote sends a clear signal to the government that they must urgently find a solution to the Northern Ireland border."
Meanwhile, along Whitehall at 10 Downing Street Prime Minister May chaired a meeting of her Brexit committee. Top of the agenda was the controversial question of future customs arrangements between Britain and the EU.
Media reports claimed a number of May's top ministers had threatened to resign if Britain remained in a customs arrangements with its hands tied.
The meeting ended with a decision on customs arrangement put-off, with media in London reporting that May's senior ministers had failed to reach an agreement on the issue.
Downing Street said later the meeting acknowledged there were "challenges" to the existing customs proposals, but that both the options put forward so far by Britain are still on the table.
