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Brexit: UK plan to remove EU law sparks nations' anger | Brexit: UK plan to remove EU law sparks nations' anger |
(about 8 hours later) | |
The government has set out a plan to overhaul EU laws copied over after Brexit - a move it says will cut unnecessary "red tape" for businesses. | |
Downing Street said a "Brexit Freedoms Bill" will change how Parliament can amend or remove thousands of EU-era regulations that remain in force. | |
Boris Johnson said the move would "unleash the benefits of Brexit" and make British business more competitive. | Boris Johnson said the move would "unleash the benefits of Brexit" and make British business more competitive. |
But the plan was criticised by the devolved administrations. | But the plan was criticised by the devolved administrations. |
Since Brexit the UK has moved away from EU laws in certain areas, including on immigration, payments to farmers, and gene-editing rules for crops. | |
But the prime minister has been under increasing pressure in recent months from MPs on the right of his party to go further. | |
Former Brexit minister Lord Frost resigned last year, calling for the government to deliver on the opportunities Brexit presented, adding in his letter to the PM: "You know my concerns about the current direction of travel." | |
Did the EU ban crown marks on pint glasses? | Did the EU ban crown marks on pint glasses? |
What's been causing lorry queues at Dover? | What's been causing lorry queues at Dover? |
In an announcement for the two-year anniversary of the UK's exit from the EU, No 10 said its new bill would ensure changes can be made more easily. | |
The government has signalled it wants to move away from EU rules over areas like artificial intelligence, data protection and clinical trials for new medicines. | |
Downing Street said the changes would build on others since Brexit, which include: | |
a move to simplify alcohol duties from 2023 by moving way from EU-wide rules | |
scrapping the EU-mandated 5% rate of VAT on tampons | |
creating a new UK regime for regulating government support to industry | |
The UK copied over the laws to smooth its exit from the EU on 31 January 2020, and kept them during a transition period that ended in January 2021. | The UK copied over the laws to smooth its exit from the EU on 31 January 2020, and kept them during a transition period that ended in January 2021. |
Since September, the government has been reviewing which of these it wants to keep in place, ditch or amend. | Since September, the government has been reviewing which of these it wants to keep in place, ditch or amend. |
Under Brexit withdrawal legislation passed in 2018, retained EU laws have a legal status of their own - and a special process for changing them. | Under Brexit withdrawal legislation passed in 2018, retained EU laws have a legal status of their own - and a special process for changing them. |
Downing Street said it wanted to make it easier for MPs to change these laws, arguing that removing or changing them could otherwise take years. | |
It did not specify the provisions in the bill or how it calculated the claim that businesses would save £1bn through the cutting of red tape. | |
The prime minister said the government's bill would "further unleash the benefits of Brexit and ensure that businesses can spend more of their money investing, innovating and creating jobs". | |
Legislation inherited after Brexit - "retained EU law" in the jargon - can only be changed if Parliament passes new laws. | |
But the "Brexit Freedoms Bill" will change that, by giving ministers more power to alter retained EU law more quickly, and not necessarily with votes in Parliament. | |
It's very unlikely that the fussy clerks in the House of Commons will allow the government to give the bill such a political name, and so I bet it gets relabelled as something much more boring. | |
Whatever it's called, to Conservative backbenchers it promises a bout of post-Brexit deregulation. | |
But the same MPs will also worry that it's a power-grab by ministers at their expense. | |
It's part of a policy blitz this week that's visible from space. | |
There's going to be a new compensation scheme for airline passengers whose flights are delayed. Also due is the paper fleshing out the PM's flagship policy of "levelling up". | |
But all of this could be made to look like a sideshow by two things the government has no control over: Sue Gray's report into lockdown-busting parties in Whitehall that could drop at any time, and the diplomatic crisis between Ukraine and Russia. | |
However, the bill has sparked concerns in the devolved administrations - which have obtained new powers in certain policy areas since Brexit. | |
A source said that a meeting between the Attorney General Suella Braverman and devolved ministers on Saturday was "last-minute, fractious, and cack-handed". | |
The Scottish Government's Cabinet Secretary for the Constitution Angus Robertson said the bill would "undermine devolution". | |
And Mick Antoniw, the Welsh Minister for the Constitution, said the UK government was driving a "coach and horses through the concept of mutual consent". | |
The situation in Northern Ireland is more complicated because of its special Brexit deal, known as the Protocol, which the UK is currently trying to renegotiate. | |
It keeps Northern Ireland inside the EU's single market for goods, meaning that a significant amount of EU law continues to apply. For example, there are question marks over whether the changes to alcohol taxes will be allowed. | |
The UK government said it would "continue to work closely with the devolved administrations". | |
Meanwhile, Labour criticised ministers for not using Brexit to scrap VAT on energy bills, which had to be at least 5% in the EU. | |
Shadow attorney general Emily Thornberry said the public "overwhelmingly support" the change, adding: "It is time the government started listening". | |
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Brexit: How did we get here? | Brexit: How did we get here? |