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The peers are lining up against Brexit legislation as they prepare to remove powers that allow ministers to violate international law.
Former Conservative leader Lord Howard of Lympne has asked the Prime Minister to “think again” and remove controversial parts of the UK Internal Market Bill.
He warned that the government is using “lawbreaker” language everywhere.
But Buckley’s Baroness Fox said in the upper house Monday night: “Under pressure from Brexiters, Boris Johnson challenged and won the December general election.
“He promised that the UK would not be bound by EU rules. The government is now trying to keep that promise to the electorate.”
“The main part of this internal market bill is to give the UK government the power to override those aspects of an international treaty that, for example, would force Northern Ireland to comply with a number of EU rules.
“The government is not breaking the law, it is making the law, by proposing a bill that would allow it to change some of its commitments to the international treaty by making it vote in the democratic chamber.”
“That is what governments are elected to do in a democracy and it is their right as a sovereign elected body to do so.
He added: “This place has to avoid its own takeover against the principle of parliamentary sovereignty.
“I remember very well the cry from here and on the other side that parliament is sovereign, repeated last year.
“Was that rhetoric since parliament was dominated by the Remain alliance?
“I also remember when the Gina Miller Supreme Court case established that international treaties only become binding when they are passed into UK law by parliament and parliament alone.
Now those who applauded that decision seem to have had a memory lapse, questioning the idea that parliament is sovereign.
“This memory loss smacks of double standards to say the least.
“Of all the government lies, which break the good faith sections of the Withdrawal Agreement, this feels like a good faith violation closer to home.
“There is a hint of bad faith double standards when so many of the same people who express their anger at a fifth of the government’s attack on international law are the same people who smashed illegal laws like Iraq with hundreds of thousands killed as a result, who turned a blind eye when EU member states violated EU treaties.
Johnson is facing mounting pressure, with cross-party amendments tabled in the Lords to remove the most contentious parts of the bill.
Peers are likely to take the unusual step of voting at the committee stage to remove these sections from the bill rather than waiting for the reporting stage.
Ministers insist powers to override the Withdrawal Agreement are required to protect the relationship between Britain and Northern Ireland.
Baroness Fox continued: “What should voters think of those in this House who simply claim that they are motivated to protect the integrity of the law in all cases?
“Yet they have lobbied or remained silent as my Lords have time and again passed Covid regulations that have shattered civil liberties, flaunted legal norms, and pushed the law to its limits.
“My Lords may be concerned about damage to the UK’s reputation abroad.
“I am concerned about the damage this House could inflict on the UK’s democratic reputation here at home if it insists on emasculating this bill through amendment.”
This is a breaking story. More to follow …
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