REUTERS Theresa May arrives at the Tory conference today

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The Prime Minister will use her speech to the Tory party conference tomorrow to announce the repealing of the 1972 European Communities Act, which is the current vehicle by which EU laws are implemented in the UK. As part of the process she will transfer all current Brussels laws and regulations onto parliament's statute books instead, with MPs set to spent the next few decades going through them one by one and deciding which ones they do and do not want to keep. The announcement is the new PM's first firm commitment on Brexit since moving into No 10 in July, and gives an insight into how she plans to go about handling the monumentally complex process of severing ties with Brussels.

Tellingly the bold move indicates that the Government is clearly not ruling out a so-called 'hard Brexit' as the UK would need to remain signed up to European diktats as part of any deal to stay in the single market. It is also being seen as the first major attempt to end the 44-year supremacy of EU law in Britain and hand back ultimate control over the nation's affairs to elected MPs. Announcing the move, Mrs May told the Sunday Times: "This marks the first stage in the UK becoming a sovereign and independent country once again. "It will return power and authority to the elected institutions of our country. It means that the authority of EU law in Britain will end."

GETTY Mrs May's bold pledge will be welcomed by leading eurosceptics

GETTY Leading Brexiteer Jacob Rees-Mogg hailed the idea as 'sensible'

As part of the process a new "Great Repeal Bill" will be introduced in parliament as early as next year. If and when it is passed by MPs it will formally sever one of the UK's key legal links with Brussels upon the country exiting the bloc. Repealing the European Communities Act was a key pledge at the heart of the Vote Leave movement during the EU refrendum campaign, and Mrs May's commitment to it is likely to reassure Brexiteers worried about any possible attempts to backslide on the result. The move is also designed to show the Government's critics that it does have a plan over how to handle Brexit, and will calm nerves that workers’ rights secured via Brussels, such as parental leave and automatic holiday, will be secured for the forseeable future. Tonight Tory MP and leading Brexiteer Jacob Rees-Mogg described the move as "the sensible way to proceed".

PA/GETTY Mrs May will appear on stage alongside her three Brexiteers in a show of unity

GETTY The Tory party conference is taking place in Birmingham

That is what people voted for - power and authority residing once again with the sovereign institutions of our own country Brexit secretary David Davis

He told Sky News: "“It’s the sensible way to proceed and it recognises the reality of our position. European regulations come into domestic law and they will need to remain in law until they are repealed and replaced. "Not all of them are stupid, some of them are perfectly sensible and we will want to keep them. It would be wrong to have a vacuum in law and so to put it into one bill and then take many years to work out the ones you want to repeal, the ones you want to reform, the ones you actually want to keep is the intelligence way to proceed." Asked which EU laws he would like to see Britain retain, the outspoken backbencher added: "There are going to be some things, yes. Whether it needs to be the same everywhere in the European Union, it is perfectly sensible to have a sign that says there’s a fire exit and things like that. "Routine regulations of that kind are perfectly sensible and nobody is going to want to abolish them. Some of the wildlife regulations people will want to keep, actually some of the health and safety regulations - it is very sensible to have a regulation on people working on ladders which are quite dangerous. So not every EU regulation is about bendy bananas."

Remainers should be pleased by PM’s announcement. All EU law will become British law and there’ll be a parliamentary vote about Brexit. — Toby Young (@toadmeister) October 1, 2016

This simply states the obvious. Surely more detail on the nature/timing of #Brexit must be forthcoming tomorrow. https://t.co/lx19ktcIoD — Nicola Sturgeon (@NicolaSturgeon) October 1, 2016

However SNP leader Nicola Sturgeon, who is fighting to keep Scotland in the EU, was unimpressed by the development, tweeting: “This simply states the obvious. Surely more detail on the nature/timing of Brexit must be forthcoming tomorrow." In a symbolic show of unity Mrs May will tomorrow take to the stage at the Tory conference with her three Brexiteers - Boris Johnson, Liam Fox and David Davis. There have been reports of cracks between the PM’s top team, with foreign secretary Mr Johnson breaking rank over when Article 50 will be triggered and Dr Fox gunning for a hard Brexit. The Brexit secretary Mr Davis, who will lead the negotiations with Brussels, will explain the decision to bring EU laws onto the British statute books during his speech to the party faithful. He will say: “As we prepare for those negotiations in Europe, we also need to prepare for the impact of Brexit on domestic law. “It’s very simple. At the moment we leave, Britain must be back in control. And that means EU law must cease to apply. “To ensure continuity, we will take a simple approach. EU law will be transposed into domestic law, wherever practical, on exit day. It will be for elected politicians here to make the changes to reflect the outcome of our negotiation and our exit. “That is what people voted for - power and authority residing once again with the sovereign institutions of our own country.”

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