But what if the status of the 1972 Act was outside Parliament’s hands?
That’s a topical question because Parliament is just about to be asked to agree to repeal the 1972 Act in the European Union (Withdrawal) Bill.
The very first clause of that Bill says:
The European Communities Act 1972 is repealed on exit day.
And “exit day” is defined as “such day as a Minister of the Crown may by regulations appoint.”
Yep, that’s right. The government is proposing that a Minister gets to decide when our membership of the EU ends. And to make that decision without any Parliamentary control at all. None, zip, nada.
The consequence of Parliament agreeing to this clause is stark.
If talks do break down, it will be a Minister of the Crown – Boris Johnson, say – who has absolute unfettered discretion as to how to react. Parliament – our sovereign and democratically elected Parliament – will be completely sidelined from the most important decision our nation has made in recent times.
Giving unfettered power to a Minister, marginalising our Parliament, in respect of such an important decision is the very opposite of taking back control.
Parliament must vote against clause one.
You do recall all of his protests about regulations and directives flowing from Brussels, to be enacted, variously, either by mandate or SI? Yes? You do recall all of his protests about that?
Anyone who says “none, zip, nada” should be publicly flogged.
Appropriate that he entitles his blog Waiting for Godot, it is the most godawful waste of time ever written.
Well, if no Minister of the Crown, nor Parliament, makes a choice of day, then it will be 19th March 2019. Decided, not by the Parliament, but by the EU. Where is Soapy Joe’s outrage that that bypassing of democracy?
Perhaps eminent lawyer Soapy Joe did not bother to attend his constitutional law classes at Uni much as eminent economist Murphy failed to attend his economics classes?
Parliament frequently delegates the date of various actions to the civil service (only nominally to the Minister) as they do not know in advance how long something will take.
This an utterly artificial objection by a self-serving hypocrite.
Treason and Sedition charges for the prick.
Tho’ he is a lawdog and should be able to defend himself what’s the betting he would still try to crowdfund his defence?
He’s on Twitter this morning with the strange claim that the EU promotes peace. His claim is:
Promoting peace, protecting environment, mutual respect, combating social exclusion: this is what the Tory Hard Right is explicitly against.
Those are, of course, principles of the EU which are routinely ignored in practice.
Subsidiarity is another, which has been completely jettisoned.
Jo Maugham People’s March 4EU
Please come. Support the EU that delivered peace to Europe.
Er… that’ll be NATO then, won’t it?
And more specifically, the Yanks and the Brits.
Has he paid back the Crowdsource money yet?