Christmas could be cancelled for MPs over Brexit backlog, a Government minister warns
A GOVERNMENT minister has warned that Parliament will have to cancel its Christmas holiday to deal with a massive Brexit backlog.
Solicitor General Robert Buckland said time is now “very tight” and MPs will be “working overtime” to deal with the massive workload.
Mr Buckland, who is in charge of drawing up some of the new laws, also told BBC Radio 4’s Westminster Hour: “We’re going to perhaps have to look at a few recesses and actually the time that we use in Parliament in order to make sure that everything is thoroughly debated”.
With just six months of Parliamentary sitting time left before Brexit day on March 29, the government faces a mad dash to pass a raft of key new laws.
They include the Withdrawal Agreement and Implementation Bill – which can only be introduced once any deal is done with Brussels.
The Lords still also have to pass the Trade Bill and Customs Bills, which could see weeks of bitter fights with the Commons still.
Under a no deal scenario, at least three extra bills would also need to be passed through both houses for the nation to keep functioning - the Immigration Bill, the Agriculture Bill and the Fisheries Bill.
Downing Street didn’t disagree with Mr Buckland’s warning.
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The PM’s official spokesman would only say: “The bills will be debated by MPs in the usual way”.
It came as a leaked police document warned a no-deal Brexit poses a substantial risk to public safety.
The national body of police and crime commissioners wrote to the Home Secretary over fears police officers will instantly losing vital access to cross-border investigative powers and databases if the UK was to crash out of the EU in March.
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