13/09/2016 (Agence Europe) – On Tuesday 13 September, the UK's House of Lords’ Constitution Committee published a report warning the government about activating Article 50 of the Treaty of the EU before consulting the Houses of Parliament. The committee says that this would be constitutionally inappropriate and it would set a worrying precedent for the government to act on the Brexit referendum without explicit parliamentary approval. The outcome of the referendum was clear and Parliament is now responsible for ensuring that the government implements the result and obtains the best possible outcome for the United Kingdom, explains the committee. In Strasbourg, the European Parliament’s Brexit negotiator, Belgium’s Guy Verhofstadt, hoped the negotiations would be completed at the end of 2019 and Article 50 activated as soon as possible. (SP)