WORCESTER’S MP Robin Walker has said British sovereignty will be ‘restored’ after Prime Minister Theresa May triggered Article 50 beginning the process of the UK leaving the EU.
Mr Walker, who is also a Minister in the Department for Exiting the EU, spoke after two year negotiations between the UK and EU began last Wednesday (March 29).
A day later the Government set out the ‘Great Repeal Bill’ which will transfer all EU laws and regulations into British law – ‘returning sovereignty to the British people and Parliament’ Mr Walker said.
Under the bill, the European Communities Act 1972 will be repealed, and all EU law will be transferred into British law on the date the UK leaves the EU. After the UK has left, MPs will then be able to decide which elements of law to keep, change or repeal.
“This Bill will empower Parliament to make the changes necessary to ensure our law operates effectively at the domestic level and at the point of our exit in two years’ time will put the sovereignty and supremacy of our Parliament beyond,” Mr Walker said.
“There is a lot of work to be done between then and now, but this bill will provide a strong basis for reaching the kind of comprehensive partnership that our Prime Minister has set out to achieve in her Article 50 letter
“From a diplomatic perspective this moment gives us a great opportunity to ‘reset’ some of the discussion from one which has been somewhat confrontational when it played out through the press, to one which is a frank and open one in the face to face discussions we will be engaged in going forward.
“I believe that passing the milestone of article 50 will allow us to get on with vital engagement with the 27 countries of the EU as well as with the EU institutions. I am looking forward to playing my part in those negotiations and on getting the best deal for the UK,” he added.
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