Harlow Liberal Democrats have submitted an emergency motion to the party's national conference in Harrogate this weekend, condemning new powers proposed by the Labour government for government ministers to change laws with minimum reference to Members of Parliament. The emergency motion says:

"Conference deplores proposals in the Legislative and Regulatory Reform Bill which would give powers to government ministers to alter any law passed by Parliament, provided that they do not create new crimes with a penalty greater than two years in prison or increase taxation. Conference believes that these proposals are a fundamental assault on deliberation and debate over proposed legislation, on parliamentary democracy, on the rule of law, and on all the democratic institutions of this country; and therefore call on parliamentarians of all parties and both Houses to reject them."

Conference representative David Wright, who has submitted the motion, says:

"This proposal is being sold as a means to remove and simplify excessive regulation, something we would all applaud. But that is not what the Bill says. It would give unprecedented powers to ministers to change the law without any real debate in Parliament. This is not some minor quibble: Magna Carta established that one man could not make arbitrary laws, and the Civil War was fought to establish that only an elected Parliament could make the law. If passed, this Bill would overturn rights established for centuries.

We have seen recently how Tony Blair's more extreme ideas have been rejected by Parliament, and how ill-judged decisions by his ministers have been rejected by the courts. But if this Bill became law, Tony and his cronies could simply change the law to allow whatever they wanted to do.

For example, if they fail to persuade Parliament to force identity cards on everyone, a minister could make a new law sending anyone who does not want one to prison for a year.

We call on all Members of Parliament of all parties, including Harlow MP Bill Rammell, to ensure that these proposed new powers are stopped in their tracks. If not, the New Labour government will have become a threat to democracy itself."

Local Liberal Democrats will have to wait until Saturday afternoon to find out whether their motion has been selected for debate - emergency motions are selected at conference in a ballot of all voting conference representatives.