Nottinghamshire MPs are divided on one of the most critical parts of the Brexit process as the Government tries to pass a bill outlining how it will bring EU law into British legislation.
Members will vote on the change, which effectively ends EU supremacy over domestic law, late on Monday night (September 11).
In Nottinghamshire Conservative Broxtowe MP Anna Soubry has already voiced dissent by asking the Prime Minster to allay fears the process could become an “unnecessary government power grab”.
Supporters of the bill say it will allow the Government to carry out a smooth, orderly withdrawal.
Critics argue clauses inserted into it mean the Government will effectively be able to change laws without consulting MPs.
Nottingham East MP Chris Leslie is part of a Labour group opposing the move.
“While I am aware that a decision was taken in the EU referendum, I can’t ignore that the public must also have the right, on reflection, to think again,” he said.
“I am hearing increasingly from local people saying that ‘no Brexit is better than a bad Brexit’.
“If things continue as they are, then I would find it hard to deny that the public have a right to say whether to go ahead with an exit deal, and to say no if this is not right for our country.”
But Mansfield Conservative MP Ben Bradley is backing the bill.
In a speech as part of the debate, he is expected tell the Commons: “This bill does not give the Government carte blanche to legislate as it pleases, firstly because the limitations posed by affirmative procedure would prevent major decisions being made without the scrutiny that they rightly require, and secondly, as we saw in June of last year, the electorate will simply not stand for being dictated to by an executive body that takes them for granted.”
In the referendum 70.9 per cent of Mansfield voters backed leaving the union – the highest backing for Brexit anywhere in Nottinghamshire.
Brexit Secretary David Davis said people did not “vote for confusion” in last year’s referendum and Foreign Secretary Boris Johnson urged MPs not to “frustrate” the process.
Labour’s leadership says it will vote against the bill, saying it represents a “power grab”.
A Commons vote and final result is expected late on Monday evening.
