…but Davis urges: Stick together
BRExIT Secretary David Davis last night warned MPs ‘the eyes of the country are on us’, as he appealed to MPs and peers not to wreck Brexit in parliament.
It came as Remainers threatened to create ‘hell’ for the Government, as ministers prepared to publish the flagship Repeal Bill.
Speaking ahead of the publication of the Repeal Bill today, Mr Davis urged opposition MPs and peers, and diehard Remainers on his own benches, to come together ‘ in the national interest’ to make Brexit a success.
But the appeal fell on deaf ears, with the Liberal Democrats threatening to use every parliamentary trick to thwart Brexit.
Outgoing Lib Dem leader Tim Farron said Remainers had learned from the Maastricht Treaty debates of the 1990s, when Euroscep- tics made life a misery for John Major by inflicting a series of parliamentary defeats.
He added: ‘The Government cannot use the Great Repeal Bill to get their way. We have been learning the lessons of Maastricht and I am putting the Government on warning. You should be under no illusion, this will be hell.
‘If the Government try any wheeze or trick to force through changes to vital protections, from workers’ rights to the environment, they are playing with fire. I am keen to work across party lines to do everything we can to protect these rights.
The Repeal Bill is designed to smooth the path to Brexit by transferring existing EU regulations into British laws in order to pre- vent legal uncertainty when the UK leaves in 2019. The European Communities Act, which enshrines the supremacy of EU law, will be repealed.
But thousands of EU regulations, covering everything from workers’ rights to recycling rules, will then be transferred on to the UK statute book.
The size and scope of the legislation leaves it potentially vulnerable to wrecking amendments by Remainers. Mr Davis appealed to all parties to work together to pass the legislation. Failure to do so would leave businesses and individuals facing legal uncertainty.
Mr Davis added: ‘This Bill means that we will be able to exit the European Union with maximum certainty, continuity and control. That is what the British people voted for.
‘The eyes of the country are on us and I will work with anyone to achieve this goal.’