Labour gearing up for Repeal Bill fight to keep UK in single market

Labour will seek to amend the Repeal Bill to allow for the UK to remain in the single market after Brexit, when the legislation is put before the Commons next week.

The party’s Shadow Brexit Secretary Keir Starmer has written to his Conservative counterpart David Davis, requesting wholesale changes to the legislation, which include the UK remaining in the single market, customs union and under the jurisdiction of the European Court of Justice during any Brexit transition period.

It is the clearest sign yet of the inevitable consequence of Theresa May’s loss of her parliamentary majority at the June election: that the battle to pass Brexit legislation will be fierce.

The bill is designed to incorporate – or so its critics say, copy and paste – existing EU legislation into British law, in time for the UK’s withdrawal.

However, implicit in doing so are great controversies, particularly the power to replace certain laws via ‘statutory instrument’, which parliament does not get to vote on or debate.

Mr Starmer’s letter calls the government’s plans “undemocratic” and “unacceptable”, and say it fails to guarantee “crucial rights and protections” for citizens.

It also, according to The Times, demands that parliament should be able to replicate new EU laws on areas such as workers’ rights, the environment and consumer protection that are legislated after the UK’s withdrawal.

“As drafted, the bill would sideline parliament on key decisions, hoard unnecessary powers in Whitehall and fail to guarantee crucial rights and protections after we leave the EU,” the letter states.

“These concerns are serious, reasonable and responsible. They are not designed to frustrate Brexit, but to ensure that the right approach is taken and that jobs, living standards and rights are protected.”