division_name: European Union (Withdrawal) Bill &#8212; 2nd Day
motion: <p class="indent" pid="a455.2/5" pwmotiontext="yes">&#8216;That this House respects the EU referendum result and recognises that the UK will leave the EU, believes that insisting on proper scrutiny of this Bill and its proposed powers is the responsibility of this sovereign Parliament, recognises the need for considered and effective legislation to preserve EU-derived rights, protections and regulations in UK law as the UK leaves the EU but declines to give a Second Reading to the European Union (Withdrawal) Bill because the Bill fails to protect and reassert the principle of Parliamentary sovereignty by handing sweeping powers to Government Ministers allowing them to bypass Parliament on key decisions, without any meaningful or guaranteed Parliamentary scrutiny, fails to include a presumption of devolution which would allow effective transfer of devolved competencies coming back from the EU to the devolved administrations and makes unnecessary and unjustified alterations to the devolution settlements, fails to provide certainty that rights and protections will be enforced as effectively in the future as they are at present, risks weakening human rights protections by failing to transpose the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights into UK law, provides no mechanism for ensuring that the UK does not lag behind the EU in workplace protections and environmental standards in the future and prevents the UK implementing strong transitional arrangements on the same basic terms we currently enjoy, including remaining within a customs union and within the Single Market.&#8217;.&#8212;(Keir Starmer.)</p>
  
  <p class="indent" pid="a456.0/8" pwmotiontext="yes">&#8220;the same rules&#8230;apply after exit&#8221;</p>
  
  <p class="indent" pid="a459.1/2" pwmotiontext="yes">&#8220;Paradoxically, we have to respect the referendum vote to change it.&#8221;</p>
  
  <p class="indent" pid="a464.1/3" pwmotiontext="yes">&#8220;The 2011 referendum&#8230;saw a large majority vote in favour of giving this National Assembly primary legislative powers&#8221;,</p>
  
  <p class="indent" pid="a464.1/5" pwmotiontext="yes">&#8220;an attempt to take back control over devolved policies&#8230;not just from Brussels, but from Cardiff, Edinburgh and Belfast.&#8221;</p>
  
  <p class="indent" pid="a466.0/6" pwmotiontext="yes">&#8220;declines to give a Second Reading to the European Union (Withdrawal) Bill&#8221;.</p>
  
  <p class="indent" pid="a466.0/10" pwmotiontext="yes">&#8220;When Britain leaves the European Union&#8212;I will work for a deal that works for Doncaster. That means easy trade, protecting workers&#8217; rights and tough immigration controls with strong borders&#8221;.</p>
  
  <p class="indent" pid="a466.0/12" pwmotiontext="yes">&#8220;I don&#8217;t support a second referendum. We need to bring people together, whether they voted Leave or Remain and make a success of Brexit.&#8221;</p>
  
  <p class="indent" pid="a470.2/4" pwmotiontext="yes">&#8220;I would expect the new Prime Minister on September 9th to immediately trigger a&#8230;round of trade deals&#8221;.</p>
  
  <p class="indent" pid="a470.2/7" pwmotiontext="yes">&#8220;Retaining our place in the single market should be the overriding priority.&#8221;</p>
  
  <p class="indent" pid="a471.4/3" pwmotiontext="yes">&#8220;The balance of advantage between Parliament and Government is so weighted in favour of the Government that it is inimical to the proper working of our parliamentary democracy.&#8221;&#8212;[Official Report, <phrase class="date" code="2017-06-22">22 June</phrase> 1999; Vol. 333, c. 930.]</p>
  
  <p class="indent" pid="a473.2/4" pwmotiontext="yes">&#8220;may by regulations make such provision as the Minister considers appropriate&#8221;,</p>
  
  <p class="indent" pid="a473.2/6" pwmotiontext="yes">&#8220;Regulations under this section may make any provision that could be made by an Act of Parliament (including modifying this Act).&#8221;</p>
  
  <p class="indent" pid="a473.2/8" pwmotiontext="yes">&#8220;has been endorsed by the House of Lords Constitution Committee.&#8221;&#8212;[Official Report, <phrase class="date" code="2017-09-06">6 September</phrase> 2017; Vol. 628, c. 148.]</p>
  
  <p class="indent" pid="a473.2/10" pwmotiontext="yes">&#8220;The executive powers conferred by the Bill are unprecedented and extraordinary and raise fundamental constitutional questions about the separation of powers between Parliament and Government.&#8221;</p>
  
  <p class="indent" pid="a473.2/12" pwmotiontext="yes">&#8220;the Bill weaves a tapestry of delegated powers that are breath-taking in terms of both their scope and potency&#8221;</p>
  
  <p class="indent" pid="a473.2/14" pwmotiontext="yes">&#8220;number, range and overlapping nature of the broad delegated powers would create what is, in effect, an unprecedented and extraordinary portmanteau of effectively unlimited powers upon which the Government could draw. They would fundamentally challenge the constitutional balance of powers between Parliament and Government and would represent a significant&#8212;and unacceptable&#8212;transfer of legal competence.&#8221;</p>
  
  <p class="indent" pid="a475.0/3" pwmotiontext="yes">&#8220;the Bill will strengthen the&#8230;executive, not Parliament&#8221;.</p>
  
  <p class="indent" pid="a475.0/5" pwmotiontext="yes">&#8220;the broad scope of its&#8230;powers, the inadequate constraints&#8230;on them, and shortcomings in the proposed parliamentary control&#8230;will be&#8230;a toxic mix&#8221;.</p>
  
  <p class="indent" pid="a475.0/8" pwmotiontext="yes">&#8220;Previous legislation, such as the Legislative and Regulatory Reform Act 2006, provides examples of ways in which&#8221;</p>
  
  <p class="indent" pid="a475.0/10" pwmotiontext="yes">&#8220;could introduce safeguards into the EU (Withdrawal) Bill to tighten the scope and application of the powers.&#8221;</p>
  
  <p class="indent" pid="a487.0/7" pwmotiontext="yes">&#8220;For goodness&#8217; sake just get on with it&#8221;.</p>
  
  <p class="indent" pid="a490.1/4" pwmotiontext="yes">&#8220;Regulations under this section may make any provision that could be made by an Act of Parliament (including modifying this Act).&#8221;</p>
  
  <p class="indent" pid="a490.1/6" pwmotiontext="yes">&#8220;But a power to modify enactments does not&#8230;extend to making modifications of this Act or subordinate legislation under it.&#8221;</p>
  
  <p class="indent" pid="a490.1/9" pwmotiontext="yes">&#8220;If&#8230;it appears to the Secretary of State&#8230;that&#8230;the enactment is capable of preventing the disclosure of information&#8221;&#8212;</p>
  
  <p class="indent" pid="a490.1/11" pwmotiontext="yes">&#8220;he may by order repeal or amend the enactment for the purpose of removing or relaxing the prohibition.&#8221;</p>
  
  <p class="indent" pid="a490.1/13" pwmotiontext="yes">&#8220;Emergency regulations may not amend&#8230;this Part of this Act&#8221;&#8212;</p>
  
  <p class="indent" pid="a497.0/4" pwmotiontext="yes">&#8220;huge holes would open up within the statute book&#8221;.</p>
  
  <p class="indent" pid="a499.0/5" pwmotiontext="yes">&#8220;The European Communities Act 1972 is repealed on exit day.&#8221;</p>
  
  <p class="indent" pid="a499.0/7" pwmotiontext="yes">&#8220;such day as a Minister of the Crown may by regulations appoint&#8221;.</p>
  
  <p class="indent" pid="a502.1/5" pwmotiontext="yes">&#8220;When people voted to leave the European Union, they didn&#8217;t vote to swap backroom deals in Brussels for more of the same in Whitehall. They voted for Parliament and the British people to have more of a say.&#8221;</p>
  
  <p class="indent" pid="a506.0/6" pwmotiontext="yes">&#8220;Europe remains the UK&#8217;s biggest export market by some distance, so it&#8217;s little wonder that businesses here in the North East see maintaining access to the market of our nearest neighbours as a priority.&#8221;</p>
  
  <p class="indent" pid="a512.4/3" pwmotiontext="yes">&#8220;a general provision be placed on the face of the Bill to the effect that the delegated powers granted by the Bill should be used only: so far as necessary to adapt the body of EU law to fit the UK&#8217;s domestic legal framework; and so far as necessary to implement the result of the UK&#8217;s negotiations with the EU.&#8221;</p>
  
  <p class="indent" pid="a512.4/6" pwmotiontext="yes">&#8220;to have an established parliamentary system of scrutiny to ensure that the different types of statutory instruments that will be needed are correctly farmed out. I have no doubt that my right hon. Friend&#8221;&#8212;</p>
  
  <p class="indent" pid="a512.4/8" pwmotiontext="yes">&#8220;is right that the vast majority of them will be technical and of very little account, but some will be extremely important and will need to be taken on the Floor of the House. We need to have a system in place to do that.&#8221;&#8212;[Official Report, <phrase class="date" code="2017-09-07">7 September</phrase> 2017; Vol. 628, c. 407.]</p>
  
  <p class="indent" pid="a513.3/2" pwmotiontext="yes">&#8220;The fact that the central aim of the Bill&#8212;that is preserving EU law post exit&#8212;is a necessary one does not place the Bill beyond criticism.&#8221;</p>
  
  <p class="indent" pid="a513.3/4" pwmotiontext="yes">&#8220;The Bill in its present form is profoundly problematic in legal and constitutional terms. It is an affront to parliamentary sovereignty. It eviscerates the separation of powers principle and it risks destabilising the UK&#8217;s increasingly fragile territorial constitution.&#8221;</p>
  
  <p class="indent" pid="a516.0/6" pwmotiontext="yes">&#8220;Overall, we conclude that the Bill is highly complex and convoluted in its drafting and structure. This is not to deny that it must inevitably grapple with a set of difficult legal issues. But it is a source of considerable regret that the Bill is drafted in a way that renders scrutiny very difficult, and that multiple and fundamental constitutional questions are left unanswered. We will consider all of these issues in greater detail in our forthcoming inquiry on the Bill.&#8221;</p>
  
  <p class="indent" pid="a517.0/6" pwmotiontext="yes">&#8220;We would expect that a statutory instrument which amends EU law in a manner that determines matters of significant policy interest or principle should undergo a strengthened scrutiny procedure.&#8221;</p>
  
  <p class="indent" pid="a530.2/4" pwmotiontext="yes">&#8220;make such provision amending, repealing or revoking any provision&#8230;as the Secretary of State considers appropriate in consequence of the regulations.&#8221;</p>
  
  <p class="indent" pid="a534.0/2" pwmotiontext="yes">&#8220;the Scottish Parliament, which adjourned on <phrase class="date" code="2017-03-25">25 March</phrase> 1707, is hereby reconvened.&#8221;&#8212;[Scottish Parliament Official Report, <phrase class="date" code="2017-05-12">12 May</phrase> 1999.]</p>
  
  <p class="indent" pid="a534.0/5" pwmotiontext="yes">&#8220;threatens the very principle on which our Parliament is founded&#8221;.</p>
  
  <p class="indent" pid="a536.1/3" pwmotiontext="yes">&#8220;allow a smooth and orderly transition as the UK leaves the EU&#8221;,</p>
  
  <p class="indent" pid="a536.2/2" pwmotiontext="yes">&#8220;doesn&#8217;t express clearly what the judges should do about decisions of the ECJ after Brexit, or indeed any other topic after Brexit, then the judges will simply have to do their best. But to blame the judges for&#8230;making the law when parliament has failed to do so would be unfair.&#8221;</p>
  
  <p class="indent" pid="a539.3/6" pwmotiontext="yes">&#8220;it is appropriate to retain&#8221;.</p>
  
  <p class="indent" pid="a546.0/4" pwmotiontext="yes">&#8220;Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely.&#8221;</p>
  
  <p class="indent" pid="a546.0/12" pwmotiontext="yes">&#8220;What need we fear&#8230;when none can call our power to account?&#8221;.</p>
  
  <p class="indent" pid="a556.0/8" pwmotiontext="yes">That, at this day&#8217;s sitting, proceedings on Second Reading of the European Union (Withdrawal) Bill may be proceeded with, though opposed, until midnight and <phrase class="standing-order" code="41A" title="Deferred divisions">Standing Order No. 41A (Deferred divisions)</phrase> shall not apply.&#8212;(Andrew Stephenson.)</p>
  
  <p class="indent" pid="a559.5/5" pwmotiontext="yes">&#8220;There can be no Henry VIII laws which automatically add EU/EEA laws onto our statute books&#8221;.</p>
  
  <p class="indent" pid="a559.5/8" pwmotiontext="yes">&#8220;any such order may modify the provisions of this Act so far as may appear to the Minister necessary or expedient for carrying the order into effect&#8221;.</p>
  
  <p class="indent" pid="a560.1/3" pwmotiontext="yes">&#8220;halve the burdens of the EU social and employment legislation&#8221;.</p>
  
  <p class="indent" pid="a564.4/3" pwmotiontext="yes">&#8220;failure of retained EU law&#8230;or any&#8230;deficiency&#8221;.</p>
  
  <p class="indent" pid="a566.1/5" pwmotiontext="yes">&#8220;The effect of the Bill would be to remove the legislative competence of the Scottish Parliament in relation to any matter in retained EU law. This would be the case even if it related to areas of law not reserved to the UK under the Scotland Act, such as agriculture or fisheries.&#8221;</p>
  
  <p class="indent" pid="a570.1/2" pwmotiontext="yes">&#8220;how you do one thing is how you do everything.&#8221;</p>
  
  <p class="indent" pid="a571.0/3" pwmotiontext="yes">&#8220;Sometimes the public can see all too plainly the impotence of their own elected politicians&#8230; That enrages them&#8230; Democracy matters&#8230; At a time when Brussels should be devolving power, it is hauling more and more towards the centre, and there is no way that Britain can be unaffected.&#8221;</p>
  
  <p class="indent" pid="a571.2/3" pwmotiontext="yes">&#8220;Clauses 7, 8 and 9 of the Bill grant the Government new and unprecedented powers.&#8221;</p>
  
  <p class="indent" pid="a571.2/11" pwmotiontext="yes">&#8220;It is about control. Do we make our laws according to our own democratic principles on the day we have left or not?&#8221;</p>
  
  <p class="indent" pid="a575.1/2" pwmotiontext="yes">&#8220;We will scrap the Conservatives&#8217;&#8230;White Paper and replace it with fresh negotiating priorities that have a strong emphasis on&#8230;the Single Market&#8221;</p>
  
  <p class="indent" pid="a577.2/3" pwmotiontext="yes">&#8220;The effect of the bill would be to remove the legislative competence of the Scottish Parliament in relation to any matter in retained EU law. This would be the case even if it related to areas of law not reserved to the UK under the Scotland Act, such as agriculture or fisheries.&#8221;</p>
  
  <p class="indent" pid="a578.0/2" pwmotiontext="yes">&#8220;not flying the flag for Brexit&#8221;,</p>
  
  <p class="indent" pid="a579.0/2" pwmotiontext="yes">&#8220;Providing certainty and stability in the lead up to our withdrawal is a key priority. Businesses and individuals need reassurance that there will be no unexpected changes to our laws after exit day and that is exactly what the repeal Bill provides.&#8221;</p>
  
  <p class="indent" pid="a580.1/8" pwmotiontext="yes">&#8220;seeks to confer powers on the Government to carry out Brexit in breach of our constitutional principles, in a manner that no sovereign Parliament should allow.&#8221;</p>
  
  <p class="indent" pid="a585.3/5" pwmotiontext="yes">&#8220;arising from the withdrawal of the United Kingdom from the EU.&#8221;</p>
  
  <p class="italic" pid="a587.3/4" pwmotiontext="yes">The House divided:</p>
  
  <p pid="a587.3/5" pwmotiontext="yes">Ayes 296, Noes 318.</p>