In the EU we did not have any Parliamentary control over new EU laws

What a nonsense this row is about so called Henry VIII clauses.

All our current EU laws either were imposed direct with no reference at all to Parliament, or had to be voted through as Statutory Instruments in order to comply. Thousands of EU jaws became our laws with no opportunity for Parliament to debate and vote on them as draft Acts of Parliament. Parliament was warned it could not vote down SIs that were needed to implement Directives, and an alliance of the two main front benches ensured they always passed.

Now Parliament is debating at great length transferring all these laws into UK laws by a full Act of Parliament. Thereafter if we wish to change any of them we will be able to so, but again it will take a full Act of Parliament to do so. That is the restoration of the democratic control we voted for.

Because the draft Act says Ministers for a 2 year period may make technical adjustments so these laws still work in the way intended once they are Uk law by passing a Statutory Instrument Labour is wrongly saying this is not democratic.

The power will only be used for technical changes like striking out reference to other member states in what becomes a UK law, or substituting a UK’s court or other body to adjudicate or act where an EU institution does at the moment. Parliament will still be involved as any Statutory Instrument can be debated and voted on if the Opposition wishes.

It is embarrassing to hear and see so much airtime given over to this non story. Why did we never hear about the complete absence of democracy for all those laws the EU imposed on us? Why was it right to allow SIs for major changes to our law when it came from the EU, yet it is not even allowed to use SIs for technical changes to keep the purpose and effectiveness of the inherited EU law?



18 killed, 18 missing in northeast China flooding

Eighteen people have died and another 18 remain missing after floods in China’s northeastern city of Jilin, local authorities said Monday.

Heavy rain in the central and eastern parts of Jilin Province on Thursday and Friday left much of the province inundated.

The city of Jilin was severely flooded and more than 110,000 people had to be relocated, according to the city flood control and drought relief office.

A 32,360-strong search and rescue team has been deployed in the city to remove the sludge and debris, repair bridges, and reconnect households to telecommunications and electricity networks.



Defence support to domestic Counter-Terrorism arrangements

The Australian Defence Force will expand its role in assisting the states to respond to terrorist incidents under new changes being made by the Turnbull Government.

The overhaul will make it easier for Defence to work together with Federal, State and Territory Police in the event of a terrorist incident.

To stay ahead of the evolving threat of terrorism, the Turnbull Government reviewed Defence’s support to domestic counter-terrorism arrangements to ensure Australia has a co-ordinated and integrated response.

State and Territory Police Forces remain the best first response to terrorist incidents, immediately after an attack starts.

But Defence can offer more support to states and territories to enhance their capabilities and increase their understanding of Defence’s unique capabilities to ensure a comprehensive response to potential terrorist attacks.

Under the changes:

  • Defence will offer State and Territory Governments specialised training from Special Forces for select law enforcement teams.
  • Defence will offer states and territories placement of officers within law enforcement agencies to assist with liaison and engagement.
  • This strengthening of engagement will assist with pre-positioning of the ADF in response to a possible terrorist incident.
  • The Government will strengthen Part IIIAAA of the Defence Act to remove some constraints in the provisions to “call out” the ADF to assist states and territories.
  • This will include the removal of the provision that currently limits states and territories from asking for ADF support and specialist military skills until their capability or capacity has been exceeded.
  • The Government will also make changes to the Act to make it easier for Defence to support the police response, such as the ability to prevent suspected terrorists from leaving the scene of an incident.

These measures are intended to provide increased Commonwealth support to states and territories in their role as first responders to a domestic terrorist incident. In particular these measures will:

  • better support states and territories in preparing for terrorist incidents
  • enable a more comprehensive ADF response to a terrorist incident if required
  • improve information flows between the ADF and police during an incident.

Together, these measures will improve the nation’s ability to respond to terrorism as well as improve the effectiveness of Defence’s contribution to domestic counter-terrorism arrangements. The changes will be made in partnership with State and Territory Governments and we look forward to future engagement through the Council of Australian Governments and the Australia-New Zealand Counter Terrorism Committee.

The Government’s number one priority is keeping Australians safe.

We cannot afford to take a ‘set and forget’ mentality on national security. We must constantly review and update our responses to the threat of terrorism.

The Turnbull Government initiated the review of Defence’s support to national counter-terrorism arrangements in 2016 in response to the changing nature of the threat as demonstrated in recent terrorist attacks around the world.

It’s the first time Defence’s contribution to domestic counter-terrorism has been reviewed since 2005.

It is essential that Australia evolves its responses and counter-measures in response to the changing threat. Defence must be able to contribute effectively to domestic counter-terrorism efforts, in addition to its offshore counter-terrorism missions and regional capacity-building activities.



China to build unified online legal service platform

Minister of Justice Zhang Jun said Sunday that China will build a unified online platform to offer “one-stop” legal services and legal aid.

Zhang made the announcement at a symposium in Harbin in northeast China’s Heilongjiang Province, which was attended by provincial heads of justice departments across the country.

Zhang called for the use of modern technology such as the “Internet plus” and WeChat app in making the platform to boost its accessibility.

The platform will provide legal consultations, dispute settlement, legal aid to people in need, as well as access to more complicated legal services, according to Zhang.

For the consultation services, qualified lawyers, notaries and judicial appraisers will answer questions on behalf of organizations, said Zhang.

China began efforts to set up a legal aid system in 1994.

More than 5 million legal aid cases have been handled and over 28 million people have received services since 2013.



49 people rescued on South China Sea island

A total of 49 tourists who had been stranded on Nanpeng Island in the South China Sea were picked up and moved to safety on Sunday morning, authorities said.

The tourists belonged to four camping groups visiting the uninhabited Nanpeng Island, some 35 km east of Zhapo, Yangjiang City in south China’s Guangdong Province, according to the Ministry of Transport.

Due to typhoon Talas, this year’s fourth typhoon, the tourists could not return home by themselves.

All the tourists were transferred safely to a rescue ship and a rescue helicopter dispatched by the Guangzhou-headquartered Nanhai Rescue Bureau of the Ministry of Transport.

China’s national observatory on Sunday morning renewed a blue alert for typhoon Talas, which is expected to hit Hainan Province and Beibu Gulf.

At 10 a.m. Sunday, the eye of Talas was above the South China Sea some 60 km to the southwest of Sanya City, packing winds of up to 23 meters per second, the National Meteorological Center (NMC) said in a statement.

The NMC forecast that Talas would move northwestward at a speed of about 20 km per hour toward Beibu Gulf and make landfall on the northeast coast of Vietnam on Monday morning.

From Sunday afternoon to Monday afternoon, parts of the South China Sea, Beibu Gulf, Qiongzhou Strait, Hainan and coastal areas of Guangdong and Guangxi will experience strong winds, while storms with up to 140 mm of precipitation are expected to affect parts of Guangdong, Guangxi and Hainan.