30/03/2017 BBC News at One

The Government sets out its plans to convert EU law

The Brexit Secretary David Davis says the Great Repeal Bill

will ensure a smooth and orderly exit from the European Union.

We have been clear that we want a smooth and orderly exit -

and the Great Repeal Bill is integral to that approach.

It will provide clarity and certainly for businesses,

workers and consumers across the United Kingdom

Angela Merkel says after Brexit, the EU to put -- the UK has to put

effort into Europe. We'll be live at both Westminster

and in Malta for the very latest. The bodies of five people have been

found inside the wreckage of a helicopter which has

crashed in Snowdonia. Cutting out the sweet stuff. Lands

to cut sugar intake in our children by 20% by the end of the decade.

And grin and bear it - the sculpture of Ronaldo that's

got everyone talking but for all the wrong reasons.

And in sport: Wenger keeps us waiting -

the Arsenal manager, who's been under increasing

pressure, wouldn't confirm whether he'll stay at the club past

Good afternoon and welcome to the BBC News at One.

The government has been outlining how it plans to transfer thousands

of pieces of European Union legislation, into British law.

The Great Repeal Bill will give Parliament,

or the devolved assemblies, the power to scrap,

The Brexit Secretary, David Davis, told MPs it

would ensure the UK's "smooth, orderly" exit from

But the plans also involve giving ministers the power to make changes

without full parliamentary scrutiny, and that's proving controversial.

Our first report today is from our political

The law that took us into the European Union was passed in 1972.

Now, our EU membership is about to end. Not with a bang, but with a

rather complicated process. The government now has 24 months to

unravel a relationship which has lasted for 44 years. The Secretary

of State for Exiting the European Union, David Davis. Brexit Secretary

set out the first steps today with the promise of a Great Repeal Bill.

We have been clear that we want a smooth and orderly exit and the

Great Repeal Bill is integral tool -- integral to that approach. It

will provide clarity for businesses and workers across the United

Kingdom on the day we leave the EU. It will mean that as we exit the EU

and seek a new and special partnership with the European Union,

we will be doing so with the same standards and rules. If you were to

look at the dictionary definition of repeal you would find that it needs

to reverse or cancel something but the government's Great Repeal Bill

actually keeps -- actually seeks to keep in place existing EU

legislation. Some say it would be more appropriate to call it a cut

and paste bail. But the government argues that by keeping the same

rules as the EU, it will be easier to negotiate a trade deal and of

course the two governments would be free to change those roles in due

course. Labour was concerned they would try to speed through their

repeal Bill at the expense of other issues. All rights and protections

must be transferred into domestic law. No less occasions and sunset

clauses. This MP wanted more detail about what laws might pass from

Brussels to Edinburgh rather than Westminster. He accused the

government of a lack of preparation. It strikes me that the government

has passed the big wet button marked Brexit with their fingers crossed

and very little idea of what comes next. Historically, Parliament

haven't had to change so many laws in a relatively short time. The

process could be painful and longer drawn-out than intended. Apart from

the repeal Bill, major policy changes on immigration, agriculture

and fisheries will entire -- will require entirely new legislation.

That's a lot to squeezing in two years so we asked an experienced

official how long he thought it would take. Well, until everything

is absolutely separate and every T crossed and every eye dotted, it

could be years. It could be a decade. But a lot of stuff will

happen either upon Brexit day or reasonably shortly after that. The

government has promised us a smooth and orderly Brexit but to achieve

that, it may find it has little time for anything house. Let's pick up on

some of those points with our assisted political editor Norman

Smith who is in Westminster. Today, the business begins in earnest. As

we have been hearing, there is a lot to do. This is the first big plank

of Brexit which is being nailed down by the government. It is a

legislative colossus, transferring all those many, many thousands of EU

rules that we have acquired over the past 40 years, governing pretty much

every note and cranny of our daily lives, from employment rights to

environmental protection to the size of a chicken hutch you can have if

you want to read hands, transferring that into British law, a process

which we have heard could take ten years. It is the matters -- a

massive legislative process but more than that, it is hugely symbolic,

the moment that marked separation from the European Lord's, with

British justice supreme. The supreme task will be pushing out anything

out that the government wants to pursue though. That is the best

risk. The second risk is that this provides an opportunity for critical

MPs to cause Mrs May grief, because whilst the Prime Minister is away in

Brussels arm wrestling with EU ministers to try to get that deal,

critical MPs can use this huge legislation to try to cause her

difficulties, because legislation can be delayed, it can be amended,

it can be voted on. So for those MPs who want to cause trouble, this is

the perfect vehicle for causing trouble. On that note, Norman, thank

you very much indeed. Theresa May has already

spoken to the leaders of Ireland, Poland,

Italy, France and Spain, following the triggering

of Article 50. A spokesman for the Prime Minister

said their response had been European leaders are meeting

in Malta to formulate their first response,

as Dan Johnson now reports. The impact of six pages, and

delivered in Brussels, still rippling across Europe. Political

leaders meeting in Malta had absorbed Britain's political message

and were ready to respond. I lot of people are telling us now they will

try to reduce the damage but I have to tell you now this decision will

create a lot of damage, but both sides. Germany is the powerhouse of

the European project and Angela Merkel's position is important. She

already signalled that she did not agree with Theresa May's position.

Today there, no direct mention of Brexit, instead speak on the refugee

policy and calls to walk more closely together. The French

president also said the UK's ties with the EU need to be untangled

first, then a new relationship can be built. There was musk sadness in

the EU yesterday but the council president, Donald Tusk, has seen

some positives. There is also something positive in Brexit. Brexit

has made us a community of 27 more determined and united than before. I

am fully confident of this, especially after their declaration

and I can say that we will remain determined and united also in the

future. Theresa May has reached out through the European press, writing

articles denying any rejection of our shared values and giving

assurances there was no intention to harm the EU. There are many more

disagreements to come down the line as Britain's Brexit clock keeps on

ticking. Dan Johnson, BBC News, Brussels.

Let's speak to our Europe Correspondent, Chris Morris,

In the shadow of Brexit, what's your sense of the mood today? It was

interesting, Kate, the fact that Angela Merkel virtually didn't

mention Brexit. There was a subliminal message that it's not all

about you and we are moving on with the other issues which concern us.

But clearly in the margins that has been an awful lot of talk about

Brexit. There is that mood of regret and sadness but we also hear from

everyone that we will be united on this. I know it's an easy thing to

say, but over the last five years of covering the EU, I'm not sure I've

ever seen the other countries are united as they seem to be at the

moment on Brexit. Sure, the UK will try to chip away and pick off

specific countries on specific issues but at the moment I think

they do realise that in unity lies strength. The next step, and Donald

Tusk, the president of the European Council is here, and we would expect

why tomorrow, possibly late this evening, for him to release diet --

draft guidelines about the negotiations and should show us what

the EU thinks negotiations will look like, in terms of a schedule and the

pinks to be discussed first. We know London would like to start talking

about trade straightaway but it's pretty clear the rest of the EU is

not interested in that. They want to have agreement in principle on the

broad outlines of the divorce. That means settling the accounts, the

status of EU citizens in the UK and British citizens elsewhere in the

EU. Once the broad understanding of those issues is down, only then will

there be feature discussions about a trade agreement.

So how will converting all these EU rules into British law

impact on our lives, if at all?

Currently, European law governs many areas, from employment law

to food regulations, from the environment

Wyre Davies is here to explain how things might change.

One of the big claims during the referendum campaign was that the UK

will be able to make its own laws, free from Brussels law.

Sovereignty would return to Parliament - the UK would be

So now the Great Repeal Bill white paper has been published,

in which areas of our lives could we see changes?

Let's take a look at workers' rights.

At the moment, the EU says that most people don't have to work more

than 48 hours a week, unless they want to.

There are voices that say that restricts British industry,

So would the UK keep that law or change it?

Could we see an effect on workers' rights?

Some businesses, some politicians, are calling for employment rights to

be ripped up help watered down once we leave the European Union. But

what they call red tape, we call important rights for working people

including protection from excessive working hours, writes to holiday

pay, protection from discrimination. The TUC is calling for the

government to make a proper commitment and to take effective

action to ensure these rights are protected, not simply from day one

but for the long-term. We also want guarantees from the government that

UK employment rights will keep pace with our European partners.

At the moment under EU law, VAT on household gas and electricity

Outside of the EU, the government could now opt to remove it -

which could mean lower energy bills, although whether the Chancellor

would want to take the hit remains to be seen.

And could we see a change in the shops on our high street?

For instance, European regulations control everything

from what preservatives can be added to how potential allergens have

Getting rid of them, say some, is good because it

gets rid of red tape, so decreasing costs for businesses.

But actually the UK may decide to keep

many of the regulations because if we want to trade

with Europe, we'll need to have the same standards.

Theresa May yesterday acknowledged in her letter that in many areas,

both sides have 'regulatory frameworks and standards

So what could be the impact on small businesses?

There are all sorts of regulations which affect all kinds of businesses

in different ways, everything from disposing of waste to the kind of

chemicals that can be in paint to employment rules for their

employees. Now, small businesses might want things to be simplified

in future in terms of how to comply with these things and anything

unnecessary got rid of, but at the same time, there is a recognition

that there are many regulations which do have a purpose. It's just

that there may be a simpler way of getting there for small businesses

to comply with. There are so many areas in which EU

laws effect our lives - and today it's only

the first stage of many. Given the scale of the legislative

task ahead, none of the changes to anything come into force

until we leave the EU, We went to see the impact for a long

time. The world's biggest insurance firm,

Lloyds of London, says it's moving It says it wants a presence

in the heart of continental Europe The question is, will

other companies follow? It's the world's oldest insurance

market, famous for the Lutine bell from HMS Lutine,

which went down two centuries ago It already has some foreign offices

but because of Brexit, Lloyd's of London will now become

Lloyds of Brussels as well. In fact, what it does is it helps

to secure the future of Lloyd's. About 5% of our business is impacted

by the UK coming out of EU. We want to be able to provide

continuous coverage and continue to issue insurance policies

for customers based in EU. The Lloyd's building

houses a marketplace. It's some of the staff

who oversee the operations who are going and it's not clear how

many of the underwriters It's good for Lloyd's to be

seen to be embracing it. It'll be interesting to see how it

goes and how they can maintain it in London

being the centre of insurance. Does it signal an exodus

from the City? London has been incredibly

successful for all sorts of reasons What we've got to be

is nimble and alert to the possibilities

and the dangers. What this shows is the variety

of places across the channel that City organisations might move some

of their operations to. So not just one big rival

to the city, like say Frankfurt, but also Amsterdam, Brussels,

Dublin, or Paris. And it may not even be European

centres that benefit most There are other hubs

elsewhere in the world, Singapore springs to mind,

a couple in the Middle East and of course Bermuda,

which will be hungry to use Brexit as an opportunity to grab

as much of the worldwide But is this trickle from the City

of London the start of a flood? The Prime Minister tried to allay

fears yesterday by saying she wants to include financial services

in an overall trade The government has been outlining

how it plans to transfer thousands of pieces of European legislation

into UK law. A mixed response to a bust of

the Portuguese footballer, Ronaldo. And in sport: Johanna Konta

continues to show her title winning potential and becomes the first

British woman to reach the semi-finals of the Miami Open,

where she'll face Venus Williams. The process of leaving

the European Union is well and truly under way,

with the publication today of what's But what about our future relations

with countries who've been EU The UK and Germany

have long been allies, Our Berlin correspondent Jenny Hill

has been to the town of Bergen - which was once home to a British

army base - to see what German people make of the start

of the Brexit process. Germany has developed quite a taste

for all things British. Bergen's UK Army base is long gone,

but they're still serving the full English and preparing again to bid

the Brits farewell. TRANSLATION: To be honest, really,

why do they want to go it alone? Army housing, due for demolition,

and a future relationship Of all the EU member states,

Germany was probably the most saddened and shocked at Britain's

decision to leave. It's also the most likely

to want to retain a strong relationship with the UK,

but not at any cost. What Germany fears

most, instability. Britain is one of its most

important trading partners. It can also be positive,

if it becomes a wake-up call I mean, what is the value

of the European Union for? It must be valuable

for every member. And we can also have only

free trade agreements That works, there are

no other conditions. So we could have the same

with Britain, basically. But in a country which is European

first, German second, it is the EU's future

which matters most. TRANSLATION: To be honest, really,

why do they want to go it alone? Army housing, due for demolition,

and a future relationship Of all the EU member states,

Germany was probably the most saddened and shocked at Britain's

decision to leave. It's also the most likely

to want to retain a strong relationship with the UK,

but not at any cost. What Germany fears

most, instability. Britain is one of its most

important trading partners. It can also be positive,

if it becomes a wake-up call I mean, what is the value

of the European Union for? Search teams have found the bodies

of five people inside the wreckage of a helicopter that's

crashed in Snowdonia. The aircraft disappeared on a flight

from Milton Keynes to Dublin. Let's speak to our

correspondent, Holly Hamilton, What do you know at this stage? At

the minute, sadly, we have just discovered in the past hour that

police have confirmed that the bodies of those five people have

been found with the wreckage of the helicopter. This follows extensive

searches that have been going on since yesterday afternoon. It began

when that helicopter left, a privately owned airfield that Aden

Airport, destined for Dublin. It failed to make a scheduled stop in

North Wales -- it left from Luton airport. Operations began after 4pm.

The operation had to stop late last night due to hazardous to

conditions, poor visibility. The search operation continued on land

by North Wales Police and mountain rescue teams here in South

Snowdonia. Sadly, that has resulted in the discovery of the wreckage

alongside five Bobbitt is. We have no details as yet about the

identities of the people who have died. Police have not given as any

details. However, they have told as they've contacted the families and

they have been informed of their deaths. The search operation here

has now become a recovery operation. An investigation will take place

into what exactly has happened. We have no details currently off that

just yet. That will be the next step in this investigation. That will

take some time, especially in what police have described here in South

Snowdonia is very difficult and hazardous conditions. Holly, thank

you. Cakes, biscuits,

sweets and chocolates. Our children may love them,

but they contain large amounts of sugar, which is linked

to obesity and diabetes. Which is why Public Health England

has published new guidelines to limit the amount of sugar that's

in some of our favourite foods. The aim is to cut the amount

of sugar eaten in foods most often eaten by children in the UK by 20 %

in the next few years., as our health correspondent,

Jane Dreaper, now reports. But eating too much sugar

is rotting children's teeth A third of children

are overweight or obese Now as part of government plans

to tackle the problem, the food industry is being given

new limits for how much sugar should Companies are being urged

to reformulate their products so that they contain less sugar,

or to make them smaller. The aim is for the UK's annual diet

to contain 200,000 fewer We expect people to see over time

smaller chocolate bars, smaller cakes, smaller biscuits,

particularly when they eat away from home, in family

restaurants and so on. We also expect people not

to notice the changes, because we know if changes

are gradually made to our food, Your bread is now 40% less salty

than it was ten years ago. Everyday foods like

these will be affected. The companies that make them

are being told to cut their sugar Cafes and restaurants

are being told to take action too, because up to a third

of the calories we eat are now And there will also be

the new tax on sugary drinks, Dieticians say there's no

time to lose in trying Around one in five ten

to 11-year-olds are obese. We know from research that excess

sugar is linked to weight gain and when you are obese you are more

at risk of conditions like type two diabetes,

which can lead to heart disease The food industry isn't being forced

to make these changes, but trade bodies say they'll take

on the challenge and experts in nutrition think this

is the quickest way It's actually an advantage

that they are voluntary, because the legal process of writing

mandatory guidelines is so awkward, so long, people resist it and try

and protect their own interests, that doing it on a voluntary basis

is actually quicker to write the regulations and quicker to amend

them if they don't work. The nine food groups announced today

account for less than half of children's total sugar intake,

so there's still work to be done on sugar that's less obvious,

in foods like pasta sauces. Health campaigners have praised

the plans, but they want the government to keep up

the pressure on food companies. Tens of thousands of people

are still without power, and thousands of others

are still stranded on remote islands, after Cyclone Debbie hit

the east coast of Australia. The threat from more torrential rain

has led to people being told to leave their homes

in the state of Queensland. It's been called the

never-ending storm. From north to south,

Queensland is dealing with several Rising river levels,

towns cut off and sudden gusts that are leaving homes

and their residents rattled. Well, I wasn't too worried

at the start, but I started hearing the wind picking up

and getting more intense. There was a few thoughts

going through the head then that something could come flying

through the window, you know? In Bowen, the Prime Minister flew

in to see the scale of the damage and stressed the size

of the response. 1300 members of the Army,

Navy and air force are here As I said, this is an example

of nature flinging her The people of the Whitsunday route

and the people of north Queensland, far north Queensland,

are very familiar with cyclones. They'll need to be pretty

tough in the south too. In Brisbane, a month's worth of rain

is expected in one day. More than 1000 schools have been

closed across the area. It's another city

going into lockdown. We have not seen the worst of this

severe weather system We are going to see

heavy rain falls. And it's one which has

touched every walk of life. With warnings that snakes,

crocodiles, even sharks, can wash up in the flood,

much of Queensland Organisers of the Oscars say

they will continue to work with the accountancy firm,

PwC, despite the mistake which led to La La Land being wrongly

announced as the winner of Best This is the moment Hollywood

realised someone hadn't followed the script

at the ceremony last month. To make sure a similar mistake

doesn't happen next year, there will be an extra accountant

on hand, and electronic devices Capturing the likeness and character

in a portrait can always be a bit So there was an understandable air

of expectation when the footballer, Ronaldo, turned up in his hometown

of Madeira to unveil Well, our sports correspondent

Joe Wilson has the story of a work of art that's taken everyone's

breath away - but not necessarily For the local hero,

everything was arranged. Politicians, well-wishers,

all there for the very famous Well, they were naming

Madeira's airport after him. Just one thing, why

had they unveiled a new bust of the former Irish

international Niall Quinn? The man himself was

full of gratitude. "To see my name given

to this airport is "Everyone knows I'm very

proud of my roots." Roots meaning homeland,

not his hair. Social media mockery based around

the bust has quickly followed. Football does have a long

association with statues. At Wembley, Bobby Moore,

at Ipswich Town, Bobby Robson. And at Fulham's Craven

Cottage, Michael Jackson. This statue was the idea of the then

chairman Mohammed Al Fayed and wasn't universally

appreciated at the time. After a couple of years,

Fulham took this statue down. And then, deep breath,

there was Ted Bates. Southampton supporters

were so angered by this depiction of their former player and manager,

it was replaced immediately and Statues are supposed

to be tributes, and the Madeira Airport is an honour well

intended for a genuine star. A 57-year-old flight engineer,

Peggy Whitson, is, as we speak, breaking the record for the most

spacewalks to be These are the live pictures from

the International Space Station. The American astronaut -

in the spacesuit with red stripes - will be outside the station for over

six hours, finishing cable connections and checking over

the station in preparation This is Flight Engineer Whiston's

eighth space walk, and beats Bravo one, counter two.

Extraordinary stuff, congratulations to her.

A rather damp morning in Durham. There has been some rain around.

It's a day of contrasts. Damp weather across parts of northern

England and southern Scotland, very wet in southern Snowdonia. Down

towards the south-west a few showers ahead of that. But the main story

across the more southern and eastern parts of the UK is the rising

temperatures. The warmest day of the year by far. Some places are

enjoying scenes like this. You could almost hear the birdsong, well,

almost, can't you? It's a beautiful afternoon. 22 degrees is possible

when north-east of London perhaps. Widely into the high teens and low

20s in a few places. A warm southerly wind wafting up across

this part of the world. Further west, more cloud, a few showers

knocking about across parts of the south-west. They'll be pretty

isolated. Most places staying dry. Rather more rain in western and

northern most parts of Wales. Parts of England are disappointing, near

the Scottish border. Some dry spells in Northern Ireland and some

sunshine in the northern half of Scotland but temperatures lower than

the south-east of England. We ended the day with the main thrust of rain

up across the more northern and western parts of the UK, maybe a

shower across the south-east but it will stay essentially dry here until

tomorrow morning. A mild night, no problems with frost. Temperatures in

double figures. Early brightness across East Anglia and the

south-east tomorrow morning, but it will turn into a different sort of

day, a freshening breeze. It won't feel as warm. Some showers scooting

across. The wettest weather further north, particularly through

Scotland. Heavy rain here. Brining up further south. Another clutch of

showers coming across Northern Ireland and westernmost parts of

England and Wales. Not as warm as today. Present in the sunshine,

particularly in East Anglia and the south-east. It will turn fresher for

all others into the weekend. A little trough of low pressure

generating showers. This ridge of high pressure promises a better day,

we think, on Sunday. This is a snapshot of Saturday. A lot of

showers knocking about. It's a hit and miss a day, you will be dodging

the showers. Some places staying dry around the coastal fringe but expect

a shower, that's my advice. It's the first day of the new month, April

showers. Chilly overnight into Sunday, Sunday is looking good.

Sunday is the better of the two days. It should be dry, cellulite

winds and feeling presently warm. -- cellulite winds.

A reminder of our main story this lunchtime.

The government has been outlining how it plans to turn European

legislation into UK law. On BBC One we now join the BBC's

news teams where you are.