Reform Bill for EU withdrawal

UKIP peer Lord Willoughby has introduced a Constitutional Reform Bill which details how Britain would withdraw from the EU and the measures needed to do so.

Alongside EU withdrawal, the Bill:

• Repeals the Human Rights Act. (Clause 2)
  
  
• Sets up binding national and local referendums. (Clauses 11 and 16)
  
  
• Passes power from Westminster to local government. (Clauses 12 - 15)
  
  
• Reviews Regional Assemblies and all quangos, etc., with a view to closure. (Clause 18)
  
  
• Reduces the House of Commons to 250 MPs with transparent expenses. To sit for fixed five-year terms. (Clauses 5-8)
  
• House of Lords reformed or abolished by national referendum. (Clause 9) and;
  
• Retains National powers. (Clause 10)

You can read the bill in full here.

The Law Lords were forced to allow an appeal against control orders even though they thought this the wrong decision.

From the Press Association report:

"Lord Phillips, the senior Law Lord, said that a judgment at the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) required the appeals to be allowed.

Lord Hoffman agreed, but added: "I do so with considerable regret, because I think that the decision of the ECtHR was wrong and that it may well destroy the system of control orders, which is a significant part of this country's defences against terrorism.""

"This simply shows the way in which we no longer rule ourselves." said Nigel Farage, UKIP leader. "Here we have our most senior judges complaining that their hands are tied. They do not want to make this decision but they have to because European law over rides our own.

"Who can support this? That judges from Serbia, Bosnia, Azerbaijan, Russia and Albania, judges who have no knowledge of our system, no knowledge of our law, are the most powerful court in our land?"

UKIP: Quotes on the Lord Hoffman and ECHR story

"Lord Hoffman is suggesting that we repatriate the powers under the Human Rights Act. We in UKIP are of course in favour of this, just as are in favour of taking back those powers given away to the EU and other transnational organisations." said Nigel Farage, UKIP leader.

"Here the conflict is that we have the Common Law. Of the 45 judges on the European Court of Human Rights only two have any experience of our system. The other 43 have all been trained in the Continental, or Roman, legal system. So they have no idea how to deal with us and our system.

"Of course we should protect human rights, but we should do so our way, in our system. We did invent the very concept of such human rights after all.

"Lord Hoffman is makiing an extremely sensible argument, one the government would do well to listen to."