Julian supports amendment to give backbenchers more say over changing EU laws
January 18, 2023
Julian has voted for a cross-party backbench amendment to the EU Retained Law (Revocation and Reform) Bill put forward by Labour MP Stella Creasey and fellow Yorkshire Conservative MP David Davis.
The amendment sought to require the Government to publish an exhaustive list of every piece of legislation being revoked under the ‘Sunset Clause’, and to allow Parliamentary oversight of this process so that the House of Commons had the ultimate say of which legislation is removed from the statute book rather than Ministers.
Julian has supported similar amendments in the past, for example as part of the Trade Act 2021 and the various renewals of the Coronavirus Act, where he aimed to assert parliament’s sovereignty rather than hand sweeping powers to Ministers.
Ultimately the amendment was unsuccessful, and Julian voted for the overall Bill, which will formally end the supremacy of EU laws in the United Kingdom.
Speaking after the vote, Julian said:
“To me it did not seem right that a majority voted leave to take back control from unelected lawmakers in Brussels only to hand large powers to UK Government Ministers while circumventing directly elected Members of Parliament.
I received hundreds of emails regarding this amendment, and I was happy to back my constituents over Party politics by voting to empower the House of Commons’ power of scrutiny.
The Government has now set an ambitious target to repeal and replace all laws by the end of 2023, but I am reassured that there are allowances within the Bill to push this back to 2026 if required. The Bill is now in the House of Lords and there is a chance that a similar amendment may be added. I will follow the progress of the Bill closely as well as keeping a close eye on the implications of the Bill once it concludes its legislative journey.
I will continue to put York first and will never shy away from breaking rank if I believe I am putting my constituent’s interest first.”
