UK to outline details of Brexit repeal bill
The UK government will on Thursday outline plans to remove European Union legislation from the statute book when it publishes a white paper on its Great Repeal Bill.
It comes a day after Prime Minister Theresa May formally triggered the process of leaving the EU, starting two years of talks that will see Britain out of the bloc by 2019.
The Bill will see the transfer of thousands of pieces of EU law to the UK and end the role of the European courts. Some MPs have expressed concerns that the government will try to make changes without proper parliamentary scrutiny.
May angered EU leaders on Wednesday when she said the fight against terrorism could be weakened if they did not agree a deal on trade in parallel with on security arrangements.
The European Parliament's chief Brexit negotiator Guy Verhofstadt, said he would not accept using security as a bargaining chip for a trade deal.
When asked if he thought the EU was being blackmailed he said: “I tried to be a gentleman towards a lady, so I didn’t even use or think about the use of the word blackmail.”
“I think the security of our citizens is far too important to start a trade-off of one and the other. Both are absolutely necessary in the future partnership without bargaining this one against the other.”
Gianni Pittella, the leader of the Socialist bloc in the European parliament called the demand "outrageous".
"This has not been a good start by Theresa May. It feels like blackmail, but security is a good for all our citizens and not a bargaining chip. We still hope that Theresa May can get back on the right track … This was not a smart move.”