Brexit boost: Officials are ‘already drafting’ a Brexit bill

[Blackleaf]

The Government is already preparing the first draft of a Brexit bill after the shock legal decision ruling Theresa May cannot trigger Article 50 without approval by MPs, it has emerged.

It is being reported that officials are already preparing the legislation so Parliament can vote to start the formal process to leave the EU.

The news, reported by Sky News, would suggest the Government is less sure it will be successful in its appeal to the Supreme Court to overturn the judgment.

This could mean her plans to begin Brexit would be rubber stamped in a single, rather than having to go through the process of getting MPs and peers to debate, amend and finally vote on a bill.

Last week's shock High Court ruling led many Brexiteers to worry that Parliament could water down Brexit and only give Britain "soft Brexit", which would be as good as still remaining in the EU with the UK still having to accept free movement of people.

However, the Brexit bill would prevent any Remain supporters in Parliament from placing conditions on the PM’s negotiating stance, such as making sure she cannot get rid of free movement or take Britain out of the Single Market.

BREXIT BILL ON THE WAY Officials are ‘already drafting’ a Brexit bill as Cabinet minister hints the Government may try and fast-track it through Parliament

By ALAIN TOLHURST
7th November 2016

THE GOVERNMENT is already preparing the first draft of a Brexit bill after the shock legal decision ruling Theresa May cannot trigger Article 50 without approval by MPs, it has emerged.

It is being reported that officials are already preparing the legislation so Parliament can vote to start the formal process to leave the EU.

The news, reported by Sky News, would suggest the Government is less sure it will be successful in its appeal to the Supreme Court to overturn the judgment.

It comes as the Brexit secretary David Davis gets ready to deliver the Government’s official response today to last Thursday’s bombshell High Court ruling.

With the Prime Minister currently away in India on a trade mission her Cabinet colleague will address the House of Commons and try and calm fears the timetable for exiting the EU are in disarray.

Before she departed Mrs May promised her start date for the formal process of leaving is still by the end of March 2017.

Speaking at Heathrow before jetting out with a delegation of British business representatives, she said: "The British people, the majority of the British people, voted to leave the European Union.

“The Government is now getting on with that."

David Davis, the Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union, will respond to the Brexit legal ruling today

But if the appeal fails a piece of legislation will have to be passed before Article 50 can be invoked, which could take months.

Mrs May has been urged to try and fast-track the process by presenting Parliament with a simple resolution, rather than trying to enact a full Act of Parliament.

This could mean her plans to begin Brexit would be rubber stamped in a single, rather than having to go through the process of getting MPs and peers to debate, amend and finally vote on a bill.

It would also prevent any Remain supporters in Parliament from placing conditions on the PM’s negotiating stance, such as making sure she cannot get rid of free movement or take Britain out of the Single Market.

Theresa May met her Indian counterpart, Narendra Modi, on a trade trip today

This morning the Work and Pensions Secretary said no decision would be taken on how to proceed in Parliament until the Supreme Court had delivered its verdict.

"The parliamentary process hasn't yet been decided," Damian Green told the BBC Radio 4 Today programme.

"It is impossible to say what would happen afterwards in terms of the parliamentary process until we get the Supreme Court (ruling)."

He said it would be "foolish" for the Government to give away in advance its negotiating strategy on issues such as future access to the EU single market.

Work and Pensions Secretary Damian Green said the Government had not made a decision on how to proceed

"All these choices are being framed in binary ways,” he said.

“The more everyone looks at the detail of this, there are various ways you can approach the single market. There are huge complications here.

Despite confusion over Labour’s stance, its deputy leader Tom Watson said the party would not seek to delay the process of leaving the EU.

He told the BBC yesterday: "We are not going to hold this up. The British people have spoken and Article 50 will be triggered when it comes to Westminster."

But that came just hours after his boss Jeremy Corbyn had appeared to suggest he would instruct his MPs to vote against a Brexit bill if a number of his ‘red lines’ were not met.

PM Theresa May and International Trade Secretary Liam Fox in India hoping to boost trade ties ahead of divorce from the EU

https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/21306...may-try-and-fast-track-it-through-parliament/

 

[Dexter Sinister]

The Government is already preparing the first draft of a Brexit bill after the shock legal decision ruling Theresa May cannot trigger Article 50 without approval by MPs, it has emerged.

The shock legal decision? Hardly, that was entirely predictable. In all parliamentary systems modeled on Britain's, including of course Canada's, Parliament is supreme, which among other things means the executive cannot make a decision with such far reaching consequences as this one without its approval. Nor can Parliament be bound by a referendum, it can take such results as an advisory opinion but it's not obliged to bow to its results.

 

[Blackleaf]

The shock legal decision? Hardly, that was entirely predictable.

It was a shock decision. Most were expecting the government to win the case.

A Sky News poll shows that 48% of Britons believe Article 50 should be triggered simply by using the Royal Prerogative and 45% believe parliament should have a say on it

And, apparently, Nigel Farage is going to lead a demo of at least 100,000 people outside the Supreme Court during the government's appeal.

In all parliamentary systems modeled on Britain's, including of course Canada's, Parliament is supreme

You seem to forget that Canada, unlike the UK, is not in the EU. In the UK, it is Brussels that is supreme, not Westminster.

All those Remoaners now wanting parliamentary sovereignty over Article 50 are the same people who have spent the last 40 years standing by and allowing Brussels to water down UK parliamentary sovereignty!

Also, every EU treaty that Britain has entered into was by Royal Prerogative without parliament having a say, yet those Remoaners now banging on about "parliamentary sovereignty" stood happily by and allowed that to happen. Why weren't they demanding parliament vote to enter into these treaties? They've only suddenly become interested in parliamenary sovereign now that it's to do with Brexit.

And, as a group of lawyers pointed out, a long line of cases went to the High Court demanding that parliament is given a vote on entering an EU treaty rather than using the Royal Prerogative, yet the court DISMISSED all those claims, and yet it's now demanding parliament be given a vote on triggering Article 50! As those lawyers say, it seems that judges are willing to block less Europe but are not willing to block more Europe.

The same group of lawyers also point out that there is nothing in the Act which enshrined Article 50 into UK law which states that parliamentary approval is needed to trigger it.

All this, and I've barely even mentioned the fact that one of the High Court judges has links to an EU organisation and therefore isn't impartial and therefore shouldn't have sat on the panel.

The evil tentacles of the EU have penetrated deep into the British Establishment, and it's going to take a lot of hard work to hack them all away.

Nor can Parliament be bound by a referendum, it can take such results as an advisory opinion but it's not obliged to bow to its results.

Parliament voted 6-1 to hold the referendum and to honour the result and in those millions of leaflets the Cameron Administration sent to people's homes to try and persuade us to remain in the EUSSR there was a sentence which declared that the government promises to carry out the will of the people.

 

[Tecumsehsbones]

Thus far, they've got. . .

"Right, wot? Bugger all them Frogs and wogs and Pakis! Britain for the Queen! God love 'er."

 

[Blackleaf]

Thus far, they've got. . .

"Right, wot? Bugger all them Frogs and wogs and Pakis! Britain for the Queen! God love 'er."

That's coming from someone whose country actually fought a war for its independence.

 

[Corduroy]

So what are the chances of the UK parliament voting to remain in the EU? Presumably they should vote the way their constituents would vote, which I'd expect leans more to towards exit than the referendum.

What I mean is that, for example, if you're a London MP, you might vote to remain, as London was heavily on the remain side. If you're from a riding that voted heavily for leave, then you'd vote leave. But if you're from a more divided place, you might lean toward leave because you're likely to get middle of the road voters who believe the referendum results should be respected.

 

[Tecumsehsbones]

That's coming from someone whose country actually fought a war for its independence.

Yeah, but our Declaration of Independence wasn't written by illiterate racists.

It was written by a literate racist.

So what are the chances of the UK parliament voting to remain in the EU? Presumably they should vote the way their constituents would vote, which I'd expect leans more to towards exit than the referendum.

What I mean is that, for example, if you're a London MP, you might vote to remain, as London was heavily on the remain side. If you're from a riding that voted heavily for leave, then you'd vote leave. But if you're from a more divided place, you might lean toward leave because you're likely to get middle of the road voters who believe the referendum results should be respected.

Choose carefully. Your seat pretty much depends on it.

 

[Blackleaf]

So what are the chances of the UK parliament voting to remain in the EU? Presumably they should vote the way their constituents would vote, which I'd expect leans more to towards exit than the referendum. What I mean is that, for example, if you're a London MP, you might vote to remain, as London was heavily on the remain side. If you're from a riding that voted heavily for leave, then you'd vote leave. But if you're from a more divided place, you might lean toward leave because you're likely to get middle of the road voters who believe the referendum results should be respected.

Well, there's no chance. The vast majority of the 650 constituencies voted Leave (had it been a General Election Leave would have won in a landslide) so all those Remainer MPs of Leave constituencies voting against triggering Article 50 would be conducting electoral suicide - they will highly likely be kicked out of office in 2020 (probably to be replaced by a Ukip MP) and may also possibly be deselected. Not only that but it could also cause mass protests and civil unrest.

Most Tories (unless there's a large Remainer rebellion amongst their ranks, which is unlikely) will vote to trigger Article 50 and Labour deputy leader Tom Watson has said his party will honour the referendum result (he knows that Labour will be destroyed by Ukip in the North of England should his party try to scupper Brexit just as it has been destroyed by the SNP in Scotland).

The SNP has 56 seats at Westminster and it says it will vote against Article 50 - it can afford to as I think only one Scottish constituency voted Leave - but it doesn't have enough MPs to get its own way if most Tory and Labour MPs vote to trigger Article 50.

But that's even if it does go to a proper vote. Should the Supreme Court uphold the High Court's ruling, the government can still avoid a proper vote in parliament by fast tracking the process by presenting Parliament with a simple resolution, rather than trying to enact a full Act of Parliament.

This could mean May's plans to begin Brexit would be rubber stamped quickly without having to go through the process of getting MPs and peers to debate, amend and finally vote on a bill.