As the Prime Minister stated, I believe our Government is committed to minimise disruption to the market and to our citizens as the UK leaves the EU. The Repeal Bill aims to do just that. This bill will transfer EU law, including the case law of the European Court of Justice, into UK law at the point of the UK's departure from the EU. This will make sure that the UK has a functioning statute book when it leaves the EU and it will provide the maximum amount of certainty, control and continuity.
Rest assure, all the good regulations,
Workers' rights, consumer protection and environmental laws will not change and businesses will benefit from this certainty. Parliament will, of course, be free to keep, amend and repeal laws as it sees fit after this date. There may also be some laws which no longer operate as intended and the bill will provide the power for corrections to be made so that the UK legal system can continue to operate.
Nevertheless, we do want to make sure that we follow up the Brexit vote and ensure that power is returned as close as possible to communities as laws are returned to the UK. I expect that there will be a significant increase in the decision making powers of the devolved administrations but I want to reassure you that our is approach to work coherently for the whole of the UK.