Repeal Bill will give UK ministers 'Henry VIII' powers to change EU laws
Ministers will be handed controversial "Henry VIII" powers to change European Union laws as they are repatriated to Britain without full parliamentary scrutiny under plans for the so-called Great Repeal Bill.
The proposal will be outlined on Thursday when the Government publishes its white paper on the Bill, which will convert all EU law into UK legislation after Brexit.
The document will come the day after Prime Minister Theresa May triggers Article 50 of the EU treaties to formally begin the exit process on Wednesday in a "defining moment" for the country.
The Bill will scrap the European Communities Act and transpose EU regulations into domestic law, crucially allowing them to be altered or removed after Brexit.
But the Government's plans are likely to prove controversial among pro-EU MPs, as ministers will be given a time-limited power to change EU law through the use of so-called Henry VIII clauses.
This will allow ministers to use use delegated powers to make changes to EU laws as they become UK laws in the Bill using secondary legislation, which does not go through the full scrutiny process.
The Government argues it needs the power as a significant proportion of existing EU law will not work properly without changes being made, so ministers must be given the ability to make "technical" changes quickly.
One example could be if an EU regulation refers to a regulatory body that will not apply to Britain after it leaves, and so the name will need to be changed.
Major policy changes, such as new immigration or customs controls, will be brought forward under normal parliamentary Bills and subject to full scrutiny.
The Henry VIII powers will end at a time spelled out in the legislation by a "sunset clause" and will also be handed to Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland so they can correct laws that that will come under the remit of the devolved administrations.
A Government source said: "Next week will mark a defining moment in this country's history, when the Prime Minister invokes Article 50 and opens the way for formal negotiations to leave the European Union and build a truly global Britain.
"But a strong, sovereign country needs control of its own laws. That, more than anything else, was what drove the referendum result: a desire for the country to be in control of its own destiny.
"So next week we will get on with the job, and set out the steps we will take to ensure control of our laws lies in London, Edinburgh, Cardiff and Belfast."
The House of Lords Constitution Committee earlier this month acknowledged that the Government may have to use Henry VIII powers to adapt existing EU law to fit the UK's framework and to respond swiftly to the Brexit negotiations.
Jeremy Corbyn told ITV's Peston On Sunday programme that Labour would oppose such powers.
He said: "Yes, because I don't think the record of Henry VIII on promoting democracy, inclusion and participation was a very good one.
"He was all about essentially dictatorial powers to bypass what was then a very limited parliamentary power."
Mr Corbyn said there needed to be "total accountability" at every stage of the Brexit negotiation.
He said: "We are not going to sit there and hand over powers to this Government to override Parliament, override democracy and just set down a series of diktats of what's going to happen in the future.
"We would be failing in our duty as democratically elected parliamentarians if we did that."
