May Faces Fight over Brexit Law to End EU Membership

Prime Minister Theresa May's government published a draft law Thursday to formally end Britain's membership of the European Union, but opposition parties and the leaders of Scotland and Wales threatened to block what they said was a "naked power grab."

The new bill would repeal the 1972 European Communities Act, convert an estimated 12,000 existing European regulations into British law and end the supremacy of EU legislation.

"This bill means that we will be able to exit the European Union with maximum certainty, continuity and control," Brexit Secretary David Davis said.

But ministers are braced for a battle over provisions that give them new powers to amend the EU laws as they are transferred without full parliamentary scrutiny.

These so-called "Henry VIII" powers will be limited for two years, but opposition parties warn they could be used to sneak through policy changes.

The main opposition Labor party threatened to hold up the bill with amendments in the House of Commons, while the leaders of Scotland and Wales also warned they could not support it.

First Ministers Nicola Sturgeon and Carwyn Jones said the bill was "naked power-grab, an attack on the founding principles of devolution and could destabilize our economies."

May's minority government remains fragile one month after the snap June 8 election in which her Conservative party lost its majority, forcing it to seek an alliance with the small ultra-conservative Democratic Unionist Party.

In a BBC interview marking one year since taking office after the Brexit vote, May admitted she had "shed a little tear" as the election results came in but said she had never considered resigning.

- 'This will be hell' -

May began the two-year process of leaving the EU on March 29, setting Britain on an uncharted journey.

Extricating Britain from four decades of membership is no small task, and the new European Union (Withdrawal) Bill is one of eight Brexit bills the government will introduce.

Emboldened by its better-than-expected showing in the June election, Labor vowed to fight the government on the "sweeping new powers" included in the bill, saying it lacked protections for employment, equality and environmental rights.

Officials do not propose to transfer into British law the EU's Charter of Fundamental Rights, saying everything in the charter will be covered elsewhere.

But Labor's Brexit spokesman Keir Starmer said: "The government's Repeal Bill falls short on all counts. It is simply not fit for purpose."

The small pro-European Liberal Democrats also warned of a battle when the bill is debated in the autumn, with leader Tim Farron saying: "This will be hell."

The Scottish and Welsh leaders complain the bill does not provide for the promised transfer of EU powers to their devolved governments.

But May's Scottish minister David Mundell disputed this, saying that eventually Brexit would result in a "power bonanza for the Scottish parliament."

- Clock ticking -

The first ministers and Labor leader Jeremy Corbyn were in Brussels Thursday for separate meetings with the EU's chief negotiator Michel Barnier, although he insisted he would only negotiate with May's government.

Formal Brexit negotiations began last month and the two sides have already clashed over the future rights of European citizens living in Britain.

Ahead of the next round of talks starting next week, Britain on Thursday published three new position papers, including one confirming that it would withdraw from the European Atomic Energy Community.

Some of May's own lawmakers had expressed concern about the effect this might have on the cross-border movement of nuclear materials.

"The UK and the Euratom community have a strong mutual interest in ensuring close co-operation," the paper stressed.

May's weakened position has cast doubt on her Brexit strategy, and Barnier urged Britain on Wednesday to provide more information on its position, warning that clock was ticking.

Under the EU's exit procedures, Britain will leave the bloc on March 30, 2019, whether it has negotiated a divorce settlement or not.

The head of Britain's public spending watchdog had earlier criticized the government's lack of unified leadership on Brexit, saying its plans were "vague."

National Audit Office chief Amyas Morse said that if ministers failed to properly prepare for new customs arrangements after Brexit, it would be a "horror show."