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Conservative former chancellor Ken Clarke says he accepts "we are going to leave the EU" and it's "idle" to pretend otherwise - the question is how we do so.

He continues that he's minded to vote for the bill but he's "going to need some assurances".

"I think we may have to force it to go back to the drawing board," he says, in order to ensure the bill gives Parliament the control which the Leave campaign sought.

He also describes the timetable for the bill as "comic", asking for more time to discuss the complexities.

Westminster Hall

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"The BBC used to be considered a reliable source of information," begins DUP MP Gregory Campbell.

However he says that the BBC's standing has been diminished and refers to "BBC fat cats" as "incredibly arrogant or incredibly shifty".

He notes that it took the BBC "the best part of a decade" to release its employees highest salaries.

He also attacks the corporation for refusing to release Freedom of Information requests asking for the number of complaints a programme received.

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Conservative man of the hour Jacob Rees-Mogg objects to Labour's point on rights, saying "the whole point of the bill is it's better that laws should be made by our government and our Parliament, not an unelected bureaucracy".

Sir Keir Starmer replies he was trying to argue those rights should not be removed except by primary legislation.

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Shadow Brexit secretary Sir Keir Starmer tells MPs that a number of rights are protected in delegated legislation under the European Communities Act, including working-time rights, the rights of part-time workers and environmental protections.

He accepts these rights will survive but warns they "don't survive with enhanced status and in delegated form", meaning they can be altered through secondary legislation.

He highlights that some bodies enforcing those rights will no longer cover the UK after Brexit.

Westminster Hall

In Westminster Hall DUP MP Gregory Campbell is leading a debate on the transparency of the BBC.

In July, the BBC published a list of its highest-paid presenters which revealed a gender pay gap, with two-thirds of stars earning more than £150,000 on BBC contracts are male.

There is also a pay gap between white stars and those from black, Asian and minority ethnic (BAME) backgrounds.

Yesterday the BBC announced that it would review pay and diversity among on-air stars.

In July, Gregory Campbell raised a point of order objecting to the BBC publishing the salaries the day before Parliament went on recess.

He called the timing of this announcement as "unacceptable".

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Conservative Charles Elphicke tells off the shadow Brexit secretary for focusing on one clause rather the general principles of the bill.

Sir Keir responds: "I've only just started."

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Opening for Labour, shadow Brexit secretary Sir Keir Starmer tells MPs that David Davis is "keen to portray the bill as a technical one - nothing could be further from the truth".

He says the agreements implemented in the bill will "extend to every facet of national life" and represent "a colossal task likely to involve a whole host of policy changes".

He argues the delegated powers included in the bill are "as wide as I've seen".

Ben Wright
BBC political correspondent

The main aim of this legislation is to incorporate, rather than repeal, 40 years of relevant EU law onto the UK statute book. It is intended to ensure there is no legal chaos on the day Britain leaves the EU in March 2019.

At the start of its second reading in the Commons, Brexit Secretary David Davis will say this "essential" bill maximises certainty for businesses and consumers.

But unusually, the government is facing a parliamentary battle to clear this early hurdle, with Labour, the Liberal Democrats and Scottish and Welsh Nationalists lined up to oppose the Bill.

Their main objection is at what they see as a power grab by ministers who will be able to change some laws without the usual parliamentary scrutiny.

Tory MPs sceptical about the government's Brexit will not vote with opposition parties next week. But ministers are braced for an arduous fight as this bill goes through Parliament

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The SNP's Patrick Grady asks if the bill will be subject to legislative consent motions from devolved parliaments, saying that to do otherwise would contravene the Scotland Act.

David Davis tells him the final Brexit deal negotiated with the EU will be subject to legislative consent, but not this bill.

Analysis from BBC Scotland political correspondent:

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• Acts of Parliament often give ministers powers to make law themselves rather than putting an entirely new law through Parliament
• These are called "delegated powers" as Parliament is delegating some of its authority to make law to someone else
• Acts are known as "primary legislation", while orders and regulations made by ministers are known as "delegated" or "secondary legislation"
• These orders and regulations are usually made as statutory instruments (SIs)
• They are generally subject to negative procedure - where instruments become law without a debate or vote in Parliament - or affirmative procedure, meaning they have to be approved by both Houses in a vote
• So-called "Henry VIII powers" enable primary legislation to be amended by secondary legislation with or without further parliamentary scrutiny

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Conservative Anna Soubry quotes party colleague Bill Cash's description of Henry VIII powers as "offensive" and asks for "triage" of those powers.

The Brexit secretary continues to offer reassurance on delegated legislation, saying: "Using secondary legislation to tackle issues such as these is not unusual."

He also highlights the number of statutory instruments ushered in by the European Communities Act.

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Conservative former attorney general Dominic Grieve puts it to David Davis that the bill means "a marked diminution in rights of individuals and corporates" after Brexit.

The SNP's Joanna Cherry also raises fears UK citizens will be left with "no right to sue" in certain cases.

Mr Davis tells her "that will be brought forward in the course of the bill's translation" and he will intervene if it isn't.