A NUMBER of bills killed off by Boris Johnson’s prorogation have been given a second lease of life after the Supreme Court ruled his move unlawful.
When Parliament is prorogued, any legislation which has not received royal assent is scrapped – although it can be revived by the Government bringing a carry-over motion for
each bill.
After the 11 justices unanimously
voided the decision to suspend to Parliament, it meant, in effect, that the prorogation had never happened.
It had already been expected that four Brexit bills, on agriculture, fisheries, immigration and trade, would be carried over by the Government.
However, other bills had been facing a more uncertain future.
The Domestic Abuse Bill, applying in England and Wales, was the most high profile of these.
Its provisions included ending the practice of domestic abusers being able to cross-examine their victims in English and Welsh courts.
However, it had faced several
setbacks in passing through the Commons, and the UK Government refused to say whether it would be carried over.
In total, there were 13 bills which did not receive royal assent before prorogation.
Others, also applying to England and Wales, would have allowed people a no-fault divorce and increased the sentence for animal cruelty from six months to five years.
Not among those 13, but technically not scrapped, was a bill by SNP MP Stewart McDonald tackling unpaid trial shifts.
His member’s bill in the Commons had been talked out by the UK Government, who opposed more
regulations.
Earlier this month he tweeted:
“Although it was effectively killed when the government talked it out, prorogation has officially killed off my bill to ban unpaid work trials. I hope to start work with the APPG [All-Party Parliamentary Group] soon as parliamentary time allows.”
However, posting a picture of his bill, which has received cross-party support, he noted yesterday: “It lives! Thanks to @UKSupremeCourt, it is now alive!”
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