Writing the Brexit date into law could cause ‘significant difficulties’ in the negotiations, a powerful committee of MPs warns today.
Amid speculation the Government could withdraw an amendment to do so to avoid an embarrassing Commons defeat, Hilary Benn’s Brexit Committee backed rebel objections.
Brexit supporters on the committee refused to endorse the findings, which were agreed by a majority vote of the cross-party group.
Just a week ago Theresa May personally presented a plan to put Brexit Day of 11pm on March 29, 2019, into ‘black and white’ in the flagship Repeal Bill.
But it has been met with a storm of criticism and Remain supporting Tories may have the numbers to block a Government amendment on the issue.
Amid speculation the Government could withdraw an amendment to do so to avoid an embarrassing Commons defeat, the Brexit committee chaired by Hilary Benn (pictured today) backed rebel objections
Justice Secretary David Lidington hinted yesterday the plan could be embarrassingly scrapped ahead of a vote next month but No 10 stood by it today.
The Brexit Committee’s intervention will bolster rebel hopes of defeating it if ministers insist on pressing ahead with a vote.
It said the original draft of the Bill gave ministers the flexibility to set multiple exit dates to cover different outcomes of the negotiation.
It said: ‘The Government’s latest amendments will, however, if agreed by the House, remove this flexibility by setting the exit day in the Bill as March 29 2019 at 11pm
‘This would create significant difficulties if, as the Secretary of State (David Davis) suggested to us in evidence, the negotiations went down to the 59th minute of the 11th hour.’
The finding was opposed by Conservative MPs Jacob Rees-Mogg, Peter Bone, Christopher Chope and Craig Mackinlay as well as the DUP’s Sammy Wilson.
Just a week ago Theresa May (pictured today with French president Emmanuel Macron in Sweden) personally presented a plan to put Brexit Day of 11pm on March 29, 2019, into ‘black and white’ in the flagship Repeal Bill
Earlier, Mr Davis said he believed that writing the departure date into the legislation was a ‘good idea’ but acknowledged that the Bill would change as it continue its passage through Parliament.
‘It’s a good idea, I think, because it’s stating something which is clear Government policy – that we will leave on March 29 2019. Now, how it’s done, what form it is, is being debated in the House. I’m not going to pre-empt that,’ he told the BBC.
‘The whole of this Bill is going to be debated through the House. The whole of it. And there are parts which will change as we go through, undoubtedly.’
The committee also warned that the provisions in the Bill to convert EU law into British law raised ‘significant legal and constitutional questions’.
‘There was no consistent view across the evidence we heard as to which laws would be preserved and how they would be treated,’ it said.
Justice Secretary David Lidington (file image) hinted yesterday the plan could be embarrassingly scrapped ahead of a vote next month but No 10 stood by it today
Brexit Secretary David Davis (pictured last night in Berlin) said he believed that writing the departure date into the legislation was a ‘good idea’ but acknowledged that the Bill would change
‘Although we support the premise of this Bill in providing for a functioning statute book in the UK once we leave the EU, these ambiguities risk undermining the Bill’s ability to supply legal certainty, a fundamental feature of the rule of law.’
The Prime Minister’s spokesman said: ‘As the PM has said, we want to listen to Parliament.
‘We are clear, though, on our determination to get the best possible outcome for the UK. Key to doing that is certainty.
‘What the amendment does is provide certainty over our position that we are leaving the EU on March 29 2019.
‘We would encourage all MPs to support it.’
Downing Street refused to spell out the effect in law of including the amendment or not, given the two year timetable already spelt out in the EU treaties.