UK Parliament To Vote On Final Brexit Bill

British MP’s are preparing to vote on the final Brexit bill, which will be implemented by March 2019.  Once finalized, it will repeal the European Communities Act of 1972, which gives EU law supremacy over UK domestic law. Theresa May is under increasing pressure to complete the bill which was announced earlier in the year when MP’s voted to trigger Article 50.

MP’s will be facing eight days in the committee starting on Tuesday, where they will spend eight hours a day debating each of the proposed amendments. Once the committee stage is complete, the bill will go through a report stage to consider the amendments, before it’s passed to the House of Lords.

David Davis, the secretary of state for leaving the European Union has announced that once a final deal has been reached, it will be implemented by a government bill and MP’s will be called to vote on it. The Withdrawal Agreement and Implementation Bill, will cover areas including citizens rights, the EU divorce bill and whether there will be a transition period.

Speaking in the House of Commons, David Davis said: “It’s clear that we need to take further steps to provide clarity and certainty both in the negotiations and at home, regarding the implementation of any agreement into United Kingdom law. I can now confirm that once we have reached an agreement we will bring forward a specific piece of primary legislation to implement the agreement.”

He also added that: “This confirms that the major policy set out in the withdrawal agreement will be directly implemented into UK law by primary legislation, not by secondary legislation with the Withdrawal Bill. This also means that Parliament will be given time to debate, scrutinize and vote on the final agreement we strike with the European Union. This agreement will only hold if Parliament approves it.”

With the lack of confidence in Theresa May’s leadership, there are concerns that opposition parties will cause further delays in approving the bill. Shadow Brexit Secretary Kier Starmer said that “This is a significant climb down from a weak Government on the verge of defeat. For months, Labour has been calling on ministers to guarantee Parliament a final say on the withdrawal agreement.”

There is still a lack of confidence over Brexit plans, which has caused a fall in the value of the pound. David Davis has confirmed that Britain will continue with its plans to leave the EU on March 29 2019, even if no deal has been reached and MPs vote against the new piece of legislation.

 

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