Workers’ rights to be maintained as UK discards EU laws
the sovereign institutions of our country.” The European Communities Act 1972 allowed Britain to join what would become the EU the following year. It enshrined the supremacy of EU law in the UK, making the European Court of Justice [ECJ] the ultimate arbiter in legal disputes.
Throughout the years, as controversial judgments from the ECJ often triggered anger among Tory MPs, the legislation became symbolic of Brussels’s influence over Britain.
Vote Leave, the formal campaign to leave the EU, named repealing the European Communities Act as one of their six Brexit “road map” promises a week before the vote. The group was headed up by Boris Johnson and Michael Gove.
The new “Great Repeal Bill”, introducing the change, will be announced in the next Queen’s Speech in spring 2017. The “historic” piece of legislation will allow Parliament to write parts of EU law it wants to keep into the British system while discarding unwanted elements. Government sources hope the move will show that ministers want to give Parliament a say on the Brexit process and will open negotiations up to parliamentary scrutiny.
However, the process is not without risk. A majority of both MPs and peers will need to vote for the Bill for it to pass, raising the prospect pro-EU Lords could hold up its progress.
Speaking today, Mr Davis will move to assure workers concerned that key rights which were introduced on an EU-wide level will remain in place.
“To those who are trying to frighten British workers, saying ‘When we leave, employment rights will be eroded’, I say firmly and unequivocally ‘no they won’t’,” he will state.
AA year before joining the European Economic Community in 1973, the Government paved the way
The legislation will only come into effect on the day that Britain leaves the EU – expected to be as early as 2019, two years after Mrs May formally begins the negotiations. Mrs May’s speech
ABy announcing the Great Repeal Bill, which repeals the 1972 Act, the Government is taking the first steps on the formal legislative route needed to Brexit following the referendum result in June. Politically, it will also soothe the nerves of the group of Eurosceptics who believe that the pace of Brexit has been too slow. at 2pm today will open the Conservative Party’s four-day annual conference in Birmingham.
Despite growing pressure from Eurosceptic Tory backbenchers and EU
AAt some point early next year, Mrs May will trigger Article 50 of the Lisbon Treaty and begin the twoyear process to withdraw Britain from the EU. However she must also ensure that Parliament votes through the Great Repeal Bill. The Bill will need to come into effect on the day that Britain formally leaves the EU. It will convert existing EU law into British law and, in theory, ensure a smooth transition. leaders, she is not expected to name a date for triggering Article 50, the mechanism to start talks.
She is also expected to steer clear of the “hard Brexit” and “soft Brexit” labels which have emerged as a way of defining where people stand on the negotiations. She will use the speech to emphasise that her Government has a plan to fulfil the vote for Brexit in June.
The conference will also give Mrs May a platform to better explain her vision for her premiership after a summer largely bereft of major policy announcements.
Earlier this week Ken Clarke, the long-serving Tory MP who held posts in three prime minister’s cabinets, criticised Mrs May for running a “government with no policies”.
Anonymous briefings about the tight control she holds on policy and willingness to clash with other cabinet ministers have also surfaced.
Aides rebut the criticism but say Mrs May will spell out her vision for social change and an economy that works for “everyone” during the conference.