Ronnie rebels on Brexit bill
MP VOTES AGAINST CORBYN’S ORDERS
MPs are elected unlike the EU bureaucrats and if people don’t like how MPs vote then they can get rid of us Ronnie Campbell
NORTHUMBERLAND MP Ronnie Campbell was one of a small number of Labour MPs to rebel against party leader Jeremy Corbyn by voting for a crucial piece of Brexit legislation.
He said he had always been in favour of leaving the European Union and voted for what he believed.
Mr Campbell, MP for Blyth Valley and a left-winger, said: “The EU has always been a capitalist club.”
The House of Commons voted in favour of the European Union (Withdrawal) Bill on its second reading by 326 votes in favour to 290 against.
Mr Corbyn ordered his MPs to vote against the bill. Labour says it backs Brexit, following the 2016 EU referendum, but is worried because the Bill gives Government Ministers the power to change some laws without consulting Parliament.
However, a total of seven Labour MPs rebelled against the leadership. They included Yorkshire MP Dennis Skinner who, like Mr Campbell, is on the left of the party and has been a consistent critic of the European Union.
Others were on the right of the party, including MPs Frank Field and Kate Hoey.
A number of Conservative MPs are also worried that the bill gives too many powers to the Government. But Tories voted for it, and none of them voted against.
Some Tories will try to make changes to the bill when it returns to the House of Commons for more debates in the future.
Liberal Democrats voted against the bill. So did the SNP, Welsh party Plaid Cymru and the one Green MP.
Mr Campbell pointed out that he voted for an amendment proposed by Mr Corbyn criticising the bill, but when that fell he voted in favour of the legislation.
He said: “I am a leaver, and I always have been. MPs are elected unlike the EU bureaucrats, and if people don’t like how MPs vote then they can get rid of us and that’s how it should work.”
The European Union (Withdrawal Bill) prevents EU institutions from having any authority in the UK after Brexit.
It means EU laws can no longer be enforced here, but it also makes existing EU laws part of UK law.
The Government says this is necessary because otherwise there would suddenly be huge gaps in UK law on the day that Brexit takes place. For example, some regulations which affect workers’ rights or consumer protection come from the EU.
Labour and some Conservative MPs say they are concerned because the Bill also gives Government Ministers the power to change EU laws as they are incorporated into UK law - without consulting Parliament.
Speaking in the House of Commons, City of Durham MP Roberta BlackmanWoods said she was voting against the bill because it was “profoundly undemocratic”. She said: “Not only does the bill give far-reaching powers to Ministers without meaningful parliamentary scrutiny, but it allows for rights and protections to be reduced or removed through secondary legislation without any meaningful scrutiny.”
Prime Minister Theresa May is now facing a titanic battle over her flagship Brexit bill, after scores of amendments were tabled. A total of 157 amendments to the EU (Withdrawal) Bill, covering 59 pages, were published, including many from senior Conservative europhiles.
A raft of changes proposed by Tories including former ministers Kenneth Clarke, Dominic Grieve, Nicky Morgan and Anna Soubry, serves notice on the Prime Minister that she faces a rough ride in the remaining stages of the bill’s passage through Parliament.
Labour has also tabled a raft of amendments designed to curb the Government’s use of so-called Henry VIII powers that allow reforms to be passed with little parliamentary scrutiny.
It also wants to secure protections on human rights and environmental standards.