Taking back control

If we leave the EU then from the very moment we secede EU laws cease to apply to us. So far so TBC (Taking Back Control). That is what the Leave campaign promised us, and OK they have reneged on all their other promises, but not TBC - we really are going to regain our sovereignty. Admittedly, to get there we have already had to give up democratic control, but that has been clearly been necessary to stop the wreckers from derailing our two-year plan - well, I say 'plan', we know where we are headed (the sunny uplands) and no doubt we will muddle through somehow.

So will we will be warming our hands at the red tape bonfire in a few months time?

Err, no.

The European Union (Withdrawal) Bill, which is currently being debated in Parliament, is designed to recycle Brussels red tape directly into UK red tape. Forget bonfire, you won't even be able to light a roll-up of red tape. That's why they changed the name from 'The Great Repeal Bill'.

Why can't we just dump the red tape as Leave promised (so many promises)? Why do we have to stamp it all 'Made in Britain' and force it into our already over-stuffed statute books? Because these laws cover vital areas such as customer protection and safety. We had a strong voice in making them. If we dump them then those protections are lost.

So do we gain more sovereignty? Sort of. The laws are European-wide to help support the four freedoms - free movement of goods, services, capital and people. If we cut all ties with the EU then we could ignore ones we don't like - a win for TBC. However if we wish to keep trading with the EU then our exporters will need to obey the EU rules and won't have any voice in making them - TBC down the tubes. We could of course not bother exporting to the EU. That's 44% of our exports, worth £229 billion.

Surely we don't need all of those laws? No we don't, and some refer to European bodies, so we will need to tweak them. This is the second purpose of the European Union (Withdrawal) Bill, because there are just too many for Parliament to go through and vote on each change. We need ministers' minions to do the tweaking. So the bill allows minions to amend the laws once they are on our books. This is absolutely necessary and was recommended by the House of Lords constitution committee.

However the government felt that the committee was a bit stingy with the powers they recommended, essentially only allowing necessary changes to the laws. Instead the government's bill would allow any change at all - with no parliamentary oversight (sound familiar?). It would even allow the Withdrawal Act itself to be changed without Parliamentary approval.

Most disturbingly the bill has no 'sunset' clause. Allowing undemocratic control of our laws and freedoms is the constitutional equivalent of martial law. Something done as a last resort, in an emergency situation. To allow such control indefinitely is deeply dangerous.

The present government is asking for these sweeping powers, is trying to extend them as far as possible, and is not willing to limit the time it will have these powers. This is a minority government desperately hanging on, in hock to the fundamentalist DUP, and with Mr Corbyn waiting in the wings. Is this a government we should trust with such power? Why pay so much to Take Back Control if all it means is handing control over to policy wonks in the bowels of Whitehall?

Our real fight right now is the fight against our own government, a fight to retain our democratic control of our own country.