May offers diluted plans

EIGHT DRAFT BILLS TO CHANGE IMMIGRATION, EU MEMBERSHIP Not a word about Trump’s UK visit after petition with 1.8m signatures against it.

Prime Minister Theresa May yesterday presented eight draft laws to take Britain out of the European Union (EU) in a legislative programme read out in parliament by Queen Elizabeth.

The laws include the “Great Repeal Bill” to overhaul existing EU legislation and separate Bills on customs, trade, immigration, fisheries and agriculture.

The queen said the “Great Repeal Bill” would repeal the European Communities Act, the 1972 legislation that enshrined Britain’s membership of the European bloc.

“My government’s priority is to secure the best possible deal as the country leaves the European Union,” the queen said.

She said her government would seek “to build the widest possible consensus on the country’s future outside the European Union”, amid divisions within her own Cabinet over the best strategy.

Britain voted to leave the European Union last year.

US President Donald Trump’s planned state visit to Britain later this year got no mention in the queen’s speech, raising doubts about whether it will go ahead.

The omission follows media reports that Trump no longer wants to come because of British public opposition to the visit, after a petition received more than 1.8 million signatures. – AFP