The Government has published a bill to repeal the European Communities Act 1972, which handed away Britain’s sovereignty to Brussels – but Remainers have vowed to fight it to the bitter end.
“The Government cannot use the Great Repeal Bill to get their way,” declared Tim Farron, the former Liberal Democrat leader who resigned from his post after deciding that it was incompatible with his Christian faith.
“We have been learning the lessons of Maastricht and I am putting the Government on warning. If you found [passing] the Article 50 Bill difficult, you should be under no illusion: this will be hell,” he promised.
The opposition Labour Party, led by 68-year-old socialist Jeremy Corbyn, also appears to be flirting with the idea of sabotaging the bill.
Brexit spokesman Sir Keir Starmer has announced he is “putting the government on notice” and the party will seek to block the bill unless the Government agrees to a number of demands, including signing Britain up to the European Charter of Fundamental Rights.
The lawyer has previously argued that the United Kingdom should agree to remain subject to the Court of Justice of the European Union after Brexit in order to curry favour with Brussels.
Corbyn himself is a lifelong Eurosceptic, but the party’s Blairite old guard, led by the former prime minister, his chief spin doctor Alastair Campbell, and the infamous Lord Mandelson, have been determined foes of Brexit and key figures in the ‘Remain Resistance’ since the Leave vote was cast.
But International Trade Secretary and Brexit campaigner Liam Fox has warned “Remoaners” that guerrilla warfare in Parliament cannot stop Brexit, and only makes the prospect of a departure with no formal exit agreement more likely.
“Those who try to derail this bill are increasing the risk of what they would call ‘Hard Brexit’,” he told Bloomberg TV.
“We are going to leave the European Union and if we are unable to put the laws in place that provide that stability, we will still leave, we simply will not have the legal framework that we want.
“This should be the easiest free trade agreement in the history of mankind. We’re beginning from a position where we have zero tariffs already and we have 100 per cent regulatory and legal equivalence.
“The only reason why we wouldn’t get a very liberal, open, agreement is because politics got in the way of economics and prosperity. That would be a great pity.”