BRITISH lawmakers formally agreed Tuesday to give themselves a veto over whether London can breach the Brexit divorce treaty in a compromise with the government unlikely to assuage EU concerns.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson has sparked outrage in Brussels with plans to give U.K. ministers the power to override some of the European Union exit terms negotiated only last year.

A group of his own MPs also threatened to rebel over the proposals in the Internal Market Bill, after the government admitted the new powers would breach international law.

But lawmakers in the House of Commons late Tuesday backed a compromise amendment agreed with Johnson that would require them to approve the date on which the powers came into effect.

The bill will now receive further debate in the Commons early next week, ahead of a vote on whether it should progress to the upper House of Lords for weeks of scrutiny there before becoming law.

The EU has demanded Britain withdraw the clauses that conflict with the divorce deal or face possible legal action and repercussions in ongoing talks on a future free trade deal.

The draft law is intended to ensure free trade across England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland after Brexit. But it would give London powers to unilaterally regulate U.K. trade and state aid within Northern Ireland in violation of the Brexit treaty.

Northern Ireland will uniquely remain subject to some EU rules after Brexit to ensure a free-flowing border with the Republic of Ireland — a crucial part of the 1998 peace accords that ended decades of sectarian violence.

(SD-Agencies)