The Great Repeal Bill

This is an interesting development....being spun as "taking an axe to EU Law"; it actually is a bit of a change of course.

I believe most Constitutional experts had decided that Royal prerogative would have sufficed....sparing a Parliamentary battle....but she has apparently sensed some benefit in going down that route.

It could be me....but I have no idea what this is about.....

Well there is the 1972 European Communities Act which is still "on the books". It is what gives primacy to EU Law in areas the EU is involved in.

Article 50 of the Lisbon Treaty sets out (rather loosely) that if a Member State chooses to leave, they should do so according to their own law.

So the obvious way for the UK to leave is to repeal the 1972 Act. But this would probably mean it would have to be voted on by Parliament, which could prove untidy....

There was a lot of talk amongst constitutional lawyers about whether May could just use Royal Prerogative....which is a bit of a weird concept to those of us more used to clear-cut constitutional powers. Royal Prerogative is defined - I think - by Lord Denning as basically anything not specifically mentioned in the various parts of the un-codified British Constitution.  Almost anything really....

It was my understanding that this is what she was planning on using.....but I was always confused as to what that would mean in reference to the 1972 Act....which would again still be sitting there on the books.

Now May has apparently decided to go the Parliamentary route and repeal the 1972 Act. 

It is a confusing scenario....Parliament could vote against her repeal....most MPs are reported to still support remain.  But will they vote against the (very close) referendum results?

If she lost that vote she would probably be forced to resign.

So......the world is ending.......damn. If it's ending I hope it ends before I have to put in my 2nd visa next summer.