The Government will trigger Article 50 before the end of next March and put before parliament a bill that will remove from the statute book the European Communities Act.
Addressing the Tory party conference on Sunday, the prime minister announced she will ‘invoke Article 50 no later than the end of March next year.’
She also said she would introduce a Great Repeal Bill into parliament in the near future to annul the 1972 Communities Act, which makes provision for the UK’s membership of the European Union, in order to clear the way for a Brexit.
‘This historic Bill – which will be included in the next Queen’s Speech – will mean that the 1972 Act, the legislation that gives direct effect to all EU law in Britain, will no longer apply from the date upon which we formally leave the European Union,’ said Theresa May.
‘And its effect will be clear. Our laws will be made not in Brussels but in Westminster. The judges interpreting those laws will sit not in Luxembourg but in courts in this country. The authority of EU law in Britain will end.’
The prime minister said the repeal process will also involve the conversion of the body of existing EU law into British law. This means parliament will be free, she added, ‘to amend, repeal and improve any law it chooses.’
This move is designed to reassure businesses and workers.
‘By converting the acquis [body of EU law] into British law, we will give businesses and workers maximum certainty as we leave the European Union,’ Mrs May said.
‘The same rules and laws will apply to them after Brexit as they did before. Any changes in the law will have to be subject to full scrutiny and proper parliamentary debate.’
On the specific question of workers’ rights, Theresa May described the Conservative Party as the ‘true workers’ party’, and said: ‘let me be absolutely clear: existing workers’ legal rights will continue to be guaranteed in law – and they will be guaranteed as long as I am prime minister.’
David Davis, secretary of state for exiting the European Union, stressed the country needed to be prepared for the impact of Brexit on domestic law.
Speaking after the prime minister, Mr Davis told the conference the Government would ‘consult widely, with Parliament and the devolved administrations, on our plans.’