These three things will change the world today.
The final Brexit bill vote takes place in the House of Commons
The Brexit Bill will reach its final stages in the House of Commons today. MPs will debate amendements to th bill, which will allow Article 50 to be triggered, before a final vote due at 8pm this evening.
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The debate today will discuss the final set of amendments, such as the key principles of the negotiation process for Britain. After this, the bill will go to its final reading in the Commons, before the vote takes place.
All eyes will be on Labour as Jeremy Corbyn has ordered his MPs to support the government’s bill as he believes it would be undemocratic to ignore the will of the people. The Telegraph reported that Corbyn could be forced to sack one of his closest allies, Dianne Abbot, as he faces a rebellion by more than 50 MPs.
The shadow business secretary, Clive Lewis, could also be forced to quit the shadow cabinet as he has vowed to oppose the bill unless Labour amendments are passed.
Several attempts to amend the legislation, including a bid to force the government to consult Parliament on the deal struck with the EU before it is finalised, have been rejected.
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By GlobalDataTheresa May has already promised Parliament will have a say on the final deal, though critics in the Conservative and Labour parties wanted to have more of a decision than what was being offered.
Once the Brexit bill passes in the Commons, it will proceed to be debated in the House of Lords.
Somalia will finally hold its presidential elections today
After postponements and venue changes, Somalia’s MPs will gather at an airport in the capital city of Mogadishu to elect the new head of state.
More than 20 candidates are in the running to becoming the new president, with the top three proceeding to a second round of voting, after which the top two from that round will go on to the final vote.
Somalia’s incumbent president Hassan Sheikh Mohamud is standing for re-election and is expected to make it through to the later rounds.
According to analysts, the reason for moving the election to the airport is that this may reduce the possibility of vote buying and other corruption in the election process. This is also a way to secure the election against any attacks by the Islamic extremist group al-Shabab.
US EIA crude oil inventories released later today
The Energy Information Administration’s (EIA) crude oil inventories measures the weekly change in the number of barrels of commercial crude oil held by US firms. The agency is set to raise its forecast for 2017.
A report by the agency in January reported that global oil markets were expected to be more balanced by mid-2018. Total world consumption for crude oil and liquid fuels is expected to average 98.09m barrels per day this year.
Of this, the US is predicted to produce roughly 9m barrels a day for 2017, a 100,000 barrel increase from last year’s estimate of 8.9m.
The markets to watch include West Texas Intermediate Crude Oil which will see its price forecast raised, as well as a positive forecast for Brent.
