Delegated Powers: We’re making progress!

Last night, we struck a blow to Theresa May’s plan to give herself the power to rewrite UK laws behind closed doors after Brexit. [1]

A staggering 320,000 of us signed the petition to demand Theresa May ditch her plans to bypass parliament. Thousands more of us emailed our MPs and called on them to speak up in the debate. And MPs listened – politicians from all parties stood up to criticise the plan to sidestep parliament. [2]

The plan has moved to the next stage. [3] But there’s a huge catch for Theresa May. Lots of her own MPs have publicly stated they’ll only give final approval if big changes are made.

That means MPs voting down Theresa May’s plan at a later stage, unless there are solid guarantees for important laws to be debated and voted on properly in parliament. [4] This morning, Theresa May will be looking at the number of MPs she needs to get her plan voted through – and it doesn’t look good.

This doesn’t mean we’ve won just yet. There’s going to be a big fight ahead to force Theresa May to ditch her plan. It’s going to take all of us to make sure we don’t swap murky backroom deals in Brussels for more of the same in Westminster. But for today, let’s congratulate ourselves for getting this far.

NOTES:
[1] The Guardian: Brexit bill: senior Conservatives warn May after vote for second reading:
https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2017/sep/12/theresa-may-eu-withdrawal-bill-brexit-stance-conservatives
[2] Sky News: Parliament supports EU Withdrawal Bill – but threat of Brexit rebellion remains
http://news.sky.com/story/parliament-supports-eu-withdrawal-bill-but-threat-of-brexit-rebellion-remains-11031615
The Guardian: Government wins vote on EU withdrawal bill with majority of 36 – as it happened
https://www.theguardian.com/politics/blog/live/2017/sep/11/eu-withdrawal-bill-vote-boris-johnson-refuses-to-rule-out-free-movement-staying-during-brexit-transition-politics-live?page=with%3Ablock-59b70d82e4b03c091fa4c546
[3] BBC: Brexit: EU repeal bill wins first Commons vote:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-41235522
[4] Citywire: MPs rush to amend Brexit bill following early morning vote:
http://citywire.co.uk/wealth-manager/news/mps-rush-to-amend-brexit-bill-following-early-morning-vote/a1048424