(Alliance News) – The House of Lords has ended its stand-off with the UK government over post-Brexit plans to remove swathes of EU legislation from UK law.
Peers had insisted on several occasions on returning the Retained EU Law (Revocation & Reform) Bill back to the House of Commons.
Throughout the passage of the bill, peers have raised concerns over the power it handed to ministers and whether it provided enough environmental protections.
Government minister Martin Callanan urged peers to withdraw amendments to the Bill and end the legislative tussle between the Commons and the Lords known as parliamentary ping pong.
This process can see a piece of legislation move back and forth between the two Houses of Parliament time and time again, as peers and MPs disagree over changes to the law.
Callannan told peers: “The reality is the Commons has considered this bill once more and have come to the same conclusions as they did previously, again with significant majorities. This is now the third time that they have made their will clear. They are the elected House and they have been firm in their position. We have to take that into account, along with their democratic legitimacy.”
Crossbench peer John Krebs had tabled an amendment aimed at enshrining high standards of environmental protections in the bill, but decided to withdraw it.
Retired senior judge David Hope of Craighead, meanwhile, withdrew his proposals aimed at ensuring parliamentary scrutiny of the government’s use of powers granted by the bill.
With the obstacle of peers’ objections removed, the bill is now on the verge of becoming law.
The legislation has already been watered down by the government after it abandoned a planned “sunset” clause to scrap all laws carried over from the trade bloc by the end of 2023.
source: PA
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