Brexiteers have hailed reports that Boris Johnson’s government is to end the supremacy of EU law in the United Kingdom by repealing the European Communities Act 1972 after October 31st, the prime minister’s pledged “do or die” exit date.
Sources have told The Times that Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union, Stephen Barclay, is to sign the “commencement order” that would repeal the act after the deadline within days, to signal the prime minister’s commitment to leaving on time.
While the House of Commons voted to repeal the act when it passed the European Union (Withdrawal) Act 2018 in September, for the law to come into effect, Cabinet ministers must sign the “commencement order” — a move which former Prime Minister Theresa May refused to make as she continued to delay Brexit from March 29th to June 30th to Halloween.
Veteran Eurosceptic and Leave campaigner Sir Bill Cash told the newspaper the commencement order was “well overdue”, saying: “It provides for the full repeal of the European Communities Act 1972 on exit day; it is the law of the land. It is the ultimate completion of the withdrawal from the European Union in statute. It’s not symbolic, it is definitive in law.”
Johnson Tells Civil Servants to Make Preparing for No-Deal Brexit ‘Top Priority’ https://t.co/B8QHv43xvq
— Breitbart London (@BreitbartLondon) August 10, 2019
Deputy Chairman of the European Research Group (ERG) Steve Baker called the move “totemic”, saying: “It shows a transformation in the approach, that Boris Johnson is willing to leave on a fixed date with no question of extension. It’s the do-or-die pledge in black and white.
“It’s not merely symbolic. Once it’s signed that’s it, the UK is leaving. Theresa May did not bring the repeal of the European Communities Act on a fixed date because she was always willing to extend.”
Prime Minister Johnson has pledged to take the United Kingdom out of the EU on October 31st with or without a deal, and having flushed out the die-hard Remainers in government, established a Brexit War Cabinet.
Last week, the prime minister told the Civil Service to make leaving the EU in a clean break by the deadline “top priority”.
Boris Accuses Remainer MPs of ‘Collaborating’ with EU to Stop Brexit https://t.co/E9L0AB4pcy
— Breitbart London (@BreitbartLondon) August 15, 2019
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