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IT COULD TAKE YEARS!

EU law will continue to affect Britons even after Brexit, former attorney general warns

The barrister wrote that leaving the European Union would be "the biggest and most complex constitutional change in modern times"

COMPLEX EU laws could affect Brits for years after we leave the bloc, the former Attorney General has admitted.

Dominic Grieve MP said that certain "legal issues cannot be removed from the consequences of the referendum outcome".

 Dominic Grieve said the legal process of leaving the EU was one of the most complex changes of modern times
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Dominic Grieve said the legal process of leaving the EU was one of the most complex changes of modern timesCredit: PA Archive

The barrister wrote in an article for that leaving the European Union would be "the biggest and most complex constitutional change in modern times".

He said there were around 40,000 legal acts, 15,000 court verdicts and 62,000 international standards to do with EU membership, which would now need to be untangled.

Issues such as data protection, voting rights, discrimination and human rights were all intertwined within the Union - and leaving the EU will "impact on every person and business in our country".

 Sir Ivan Rogers said last year that it could take up to ten years to fully leave the EU
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Sir Ivan Rogers said last year that it could take up to ten years to fully leave the EUCredit: PA:Press Association

At the end of last year former UK Ambassador to the EU, Sir Ivan Rogers, was slammed for claiming that Brexit could take up to a decade - as it was such a complex task.

Iain Duncan Smith, the former Work and Pensions Secretary, said that was the "worst case scenario" and that it could be done in two years.

Theresa May has promised to introduce a Great Repeal Bill in the next Parliament which will take all EU laws into UK law - and MPs will be able to discuss which ones to keep.

But Mr Grieve expressed doubt that everything could be done in the two-year time frame set out for Brexit talks.
"How any of this can be done within the two year period for our departure remains unclear," he said.

He noted that officials will have to untangle us from the EU laws and regulations - but would still have to be a part of some organisations such as Europol and in intelligence-sharing.

 MPs are debating the Brexit Bill today - to trigger article 50 and start exit talks
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MPs are debating the Brexit Bill today - to trigger article 50 and start exit talksCredit: PA:Press Association

He said that the task was "fraught with legal complexity" as well as "economic risk", but admitted that "there may also be opportunities".

The Maltese PM said earlier this month too that Britain may have to "bow" to European laws for as much as 10 years after we leave the EU - as the process of withdraw could take so long.

 Gina Miller won her case at the Supreme Court earlier this month - which ruled that Theresa May needed a vote before triggering Article 50
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Gina Miller won her case at the Supreme Court earlier this month - which ruled that Theresa May needed a vote before triggering Article 50Credit: EPA

In the article, Mr Grieve also hit out at the Government - and Justice Secretary Liz Truss - for being slow to distance itself from the attacks on Gina Miller and the judges in charge of the Article 50 Court Case.

Many received death threats and "entirely unjustified abuse", he said.

"I regret that the Government did nothing to dissociate itself from these attacks," he went on.

 

 

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