No charter of fundamental rights in Repeal Bill

The EU (withdrawal) bill, also known as the “great repeal bill” which will formally enact Brexit , includes a clause that says: “The charter of fundamental rights is not part of domestic law on or after exit day.”

Labour’s shadow Brexit secretary Sir Keir Starmer has made clear his party would not support the Bill in its current form.  One of the concessions he is demanding is on the incorporation of the European Charter of Fundamental Rights into British law. He also wants guarantees workers’ rights in the UK do not fall behind those in the EU, and curbs on the power of government ministers to alter legislation without full parliamentary scrutiny.

In a joint statement, first ministers Nicola Sturgeon and Carwyn Jones described the bill as a “naked power-grab” by Westminster that undermined the principles of devolution.

The repeal bill is not expected to be debated by MPs until the Autumn, but will need to have been passed by the time the UK leaves the EU – which is due to happen in March 2019. The Scottish and Welsh governments also have to give “legislative consent” to the repeal bill before it can become law – something the Scottish and Welsh governments have said they are not willing to do.

 

Read more initial information about the Repeal Bill here.

 

 

 

Image credit: Yanni Koutsomitis, Flickr