PARLIAMENT returned recently for its September sitting prior to the conference season.

It’s known to some of us at ‘Robin Cook Memorial Fortnight’ after the man who introduced it and it is usually a fairly quiet two weeks without much serious business.

Not now. Brexit means that parliament must get through the mass of legislation required before we leave the EU and so we have begun with what is called the European Union (Withdrawal) Bill.

Despite its misleading title it doesn’t actually complete our withdrawal from the EU.

What it does is attempt to transfer European law into British law. Forty years of legislation including laws dealing with matters like the right to a paid holiday, health and safety laws, environmental protection and parental leave have to be passported over.

The problem is the way the Government is trying to do this.

The bill contains lots of what are called ‘Henry VIII’ clauses.

The term is not a compliment.

These clauses give ministers powers to repeal or amend laws by regulations without a further act of parliament.

They get their name from the Statute of Proclamations 1539 which gave Henry VIII power to legislate by proclamations.

That’s why the bill is causing a huge row.

Giving ministers power to change laws, many of them laws we rely on every day, without proper parliamentary scrutiny, is very dangerous.

Generally these powers are used only for updating bills, for example by uprating benefit payments which have already been legislated for.

They are intended to be used to make minor changes but the fear is that those in this bill will be used to change laws which give us fundamental rights which we rely on.

Cue the huge row.

There will be many battles on the floor of the Commons before the bill reaches its final stages and many amendments designed to curb the government’s wish to give so much power to ministers.

The language of the debates may seem obscure but it’s really a battle about parliamentary democracy.

On a more cheerful note the Government has, at last, moved to set up select committees which I wrote about in my last column and the petitions site is to open at last.

If there is something you want Parliament to debate, think about starting a petition.