Retained EU Law (Revocation and Reform) Bill (First sitting) Debate
Full Debate: Read Full DebateSaqib Bhatti
Main Page: Saqib Bhatti (Conservative - Meriden and Solihull East)Department Debates - View all Saqib Bhatti's debates with the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy
(2 years ago)
Public Bill CommitteesQ
Sir Stephen Laws: I do not think so, because as I have said, people have had six years to look at this law and see how much of it they think is important. Another year does not seem an unreasonable period in which to finalise their views on these things.
Q
Sir Stephen Laws: Yes, because it removes a whole load of law that was enacted under a system that qualified parliamentary sovereignty by imposing obligations on the Government and, indirectly, Parliament, to produce particular forms of law. The Bill replaces that with a system in which all new law will be subject to questions, as to substance and form, in a parliamentary forum.
Q
Sir Stephen Laws: I do not think I can add much to what I said before: there is a great volume of law here; a great volume of law was produced under section 2(2) of the European Communities Act 1972 and, indeed, under the 2018 Act. It is important that Parliament develops a sensible system of scrutiny, so that it can do its job of questioning and legitimising matters that are politically salient, and providing a robust system of random sampling, so as to make sure that the quality of legislation is maintained.
There is time for one quick question, if anyone is bursting to ask one. Ah! I call Stella Creasy.