Britain’s House of Lords have rejected an amendment to the Brexit bill presented by the UK Prime Minister Theresa May’s government that mandated the government to maintain access to the European Union single market after leaving the European Union. The members of the parliament voted overwhelmingly against the proposal calling it unrealistic.

By a margin of 299 to 136, the bill was rejected and that could be seen as a major victory for the government but it showed the deep division among the lawmakers. While it was a win for the government, it is actually running out of time to trigger Article 50 of Lisbon treaty. If the Article isn’t triggered before March 31st new rules would set in and that would make it difficult for the UK to exit the Union as it would require approval from at least 14 members of the European Union with a total population equivalent to the 65 percent of the total population of the EU.

The government is likely to hold a vote in the House of Lords on its Brexit bill within the next two weeks, winning which would empower the government to trigger an exit.