Ministers face battle over bid to use 'Henry VIII' powers to scrap swathes of EU legislation without full parliamentary scrutiny

Government is set to unveil details of Great Repeal Bill for Brexit later this week
Proposals to extend 'Henry VII' executive powers so ministers can alter laws
But Labour set to oppose moves to limit parliamentary scrutiny of changes

By James Tapsfield, Political Editor For Mailonline

Published: 11:16 BST, 26 March 2017 | Updated: 05:01 BST, 27 March 2017

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Theresa May is due to invoke the Article 50 EU divorce process on Wednesday

Ministers are braced for a battle over plans to ditch a swathe of EU laws using 'Henry VIII' powers.

The government is set to unveil details of the 'Great Repeal Bill' this week, part of the formal process of cutting ties with Brussels.

The legislation will convert all EU law on to the UK statute books. But ministers also want to be able to adapt the laws as they are repatriated without fulls scrutiny by parliament.

Jeremy Corbyn indicated that Labour will oppose the plans today, saying government should not be extending executive powers used by a 'dictatorial and anti-democratic' king.

The stage will be set for the row on Thursday when the Government publishes its white paper on the Great Repeal Bill.

The document is being released the day after Theresa May launches the EU divorce process by triggering Article 50.

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 move will be fiercely resisted by Remainer MPs, as ministers will be given a time-limited power to change EU law through the use of so-called Henry VIII clauses.

That means they could use delegated powers to make changes to EU laws as they become UK laws in the Bill.

As ministers would only need to pass secondary legislation, the tweaks would not go through full parliamentary scrutiny.

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.

Jeremy Corbyn made clear this morning that Labour will oppose the extension of executive powers in the Great Repeal Bill

Brexit Secretary David Davis will be a key figure in pushing through the legislation to facilitate our departure from the EU

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.

Asked about the prospect of beefed up executive power on ITV's Peston on Sunday, Mr Corbyn said: '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.

'These things survive. The British constitution is a wondrous thing. Well, they've got to stop.

'We need total accountability at every stage of this whole Brexit negotiation. I understand there's going to be about 12 ancillary and related bills.

'We're 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 on what's going to happen in the future. We'd be failing in our duty as democratically elected parliamentarians if we did that.'

The Liberal Democrats have also pledged to oppose any Henry VIII clauses, with MP Tom Brake warning the Government it would be 'playing with fire' if they were introduced.