Manifesto for Brexit: 6 laws to take power back from EU
SENIOR Tory Cabinet ministers today publish six pieces of legislation they would pass to restore Britain’s border controls and end the supremacy of EU law in the event of a Brexit.
In an audacious challenge to the Prime Minister, Michael Gove, Chris Grayling and Boris Johnson set out what is effectively a manifesto for a ‘government in waiting’.
They pledge that the new laws would be in place by the next General Election in 2020.
In an attempt to take charge of what would happen if the UK votes out on June 23, the leading Conservatives also say that Labour MPs and senior figures from the world of business and law should be involved in thrashing out a new deal with Brussels.
The most striking proposal is for a new Asylum and Immigration Control Bill that would end the automatic right of all EU citizens to enter the UK by the next election. There would also be a new ‘non- discriminatory’ pointsbased immigration system to ensure that people entering the UK had skills
‘A vote to leave is a vote for action’
the economy needed. The European Court of Justice would be stripped of all control over asylum policy.
In the current session of Parliament, a European Union Law (Emergency Provisions) Bill would be rushed in to end the rogue European Court of Justice’s control over national security, allow the Government to remove EU.
Pro-Brexit ministers said there would also be a special Finance Bill that would abolish the 5 per cent rate of VAT on household energy bills. A National Health Service (Funding Target) Bill would require that by 2020, the NHS receives a £100 million-a-week real-terms cash transfusion over and above current plans. Vote Leave said this will be paid for by savings from the UK’s contributions to the EU budget and other savings from leaving – a claim fiercely contested by the Remain camp.
A Free Trade Bill would require that by the next election, the UK leaves the EU’s ‘ common commercial policy’.
Finally, and significantly, a European Communities Act 1972 (Repeal) Bill would scrap the legal basis for the supremacy of EU law in the UK. The European Court’s jurisdiction over the UK will come to a permanent end, and we would stop making contributions to the EU budget.
Mr Grayling, Leader of the House of Commons, said: ‘After we Vote Leave the public need to see that there is immediate action to take back control from the EU. We will need a carefully managed negotiation process and some major legislative changes before 2020. A vote to leave on June 23 is a vote for action, and the Government will need to respond quickly.’
Employment minister Priti Patel said the Government would have ‘options and choices’ after Brexit, with ‘more than enough money’ to go around.
Britain Stronger in Europe said the Leave campaign had made 24 spending commitments totalling more than £113 billion.
Alan Johnson, head of Labour In, said: ‘It is fantasy economics. That money does not exist.’