Britains Queen Elizabeth granted royal assent to the Brexit legislation on Tuesday, bringing closure to months of debate over the bill that will formally end the countrys European Union membership. The House of Commons speaker John Bercow said the EU withdrawal bill, passed by both houses of parliament last week, had been signed into law by the monarch, to cheers from Conservative lawmakers. "I have to notify the House in accordance with the Royal Assent Act 1967 that her Majesty has signified her royal assent to the following acts ... European Union Withdrawal Act 2018," Bercow told lawmakers during a session of the house. The bill has undergone more than 250 hours of acrimonious debate in the Houses of Parliament since it was introduced in July 2017. Euroskeptics celebrated the passing of the bill through parliament last week as proof that, despite all the continuing uncertainty over the negotiations with Brussels, Britain was leaving the EU. International Trade Minister Liam Fox said it paved the way "irrevocably" for Brexit, adding that the chances of Britain not leaving "are now zero". Leading euroskeptic MP Jacob Rees-Mogg, a member of the ruling Conservative party, said at the weekend: "The legal position is now so much stronger for a clean Brexit. In an open letter to British Prime Minister Theresa May, 60 lawmakers, economists and business chiefs have accused the EU of being "intransigent" in divorce talks and said Britain should threaten to withhold the 39 billion pound ($52 billion) divorce bill it has already agreed to pay. The letter released Sunday by Economists for Free Trade was signed by prominent supporters of a "hard Brexit," including ex-UK Treasury chief Nigel Lawson, Conservative lawmakers John Redwood and Peter Bone, and Tim Martin, chairman of the Wetherspoons pub chain. They urged UK authorities "to accelerate their preparations for no deal and a move to a World Trade Deal under WTO rules."