The Conversation (0)
Kate Plummer
Jan 31, 2022
Brexit has been ‘big success already’, says minister
Independent
The government is launching a so-called "Brexit Freedoms Bill" to alter EU-era regulations that were copied over to the UK when it left two years ago.
In an announcement for Brexit's second anniversary, Downing Street said the bill will change how parliament can amend or remove regulations, meaning it will be able to "red tape", "unleash the benefits of Brexit" and make British business more competitive.
EU laws have a special legal status and there is a specific process to change them. They were copied over to smooth the transition period but the government has been reviewing them since September and said the bill will make it easier to do so.
“The plans we have set out today will further unleash the benefits of Brexit and ensure that businesses can spend more of their money investing, innovating and creating jobs,” Johnson said in a statement.
“Our new Brexit Freedoms Bill will end the special status of EU law in our legal framework and ensure that we can more easily amend or remove outdated EU law in future.”
But the plan was criticised by the devolved administrations and some have said Johnson is announcing it as part of so-called Operation Red Meat measures to move on from the Partygate scandal.
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.
Sign up to our free Indy100 weekly newsletter
But reacting to it, the people of Twitter weren't too enthusiastic about it:
2 things to say re: \u201cBrexit Freedoms Bill\u201d: spent 2 years working in this area and it\u2019s a myth there\u2019s a mass of deregulating to be done to affect real economic change. Two, it will take power away from HoC and hand it to the executive. Wasn\u2019t Brexit about empowering parliament?— Nick Tyrone (@Nick Tyrone) 1643618192
The Brexit Freedoms Bill isn\u2019t about freedom for us at all. It allows govt to quietly strip away regulation that protected us and to claim that\u2019s a win. It\u2019s deceitful, dangerous opportunism from a govt we cannot trust, trying to save its skin from the last time it betrayed us.— sarah murphy (@sarah murphy) 1643614952
Johnson is promoting the "Brexit Freedoms Bill" as a way to remove all that nasty EU legislation\n\nYou know, like Human Rights that prevent him from harming you, data protection that prevent him from spying on you & food standards that prevents him from poisoning you\n\n#JohnsonOut7— Lloyd Hardy | #JohnsonOut7 (@Lloyd Hardy | #JohnsonOut7) 1643621850
Welcome to the Brexit Freedoms Bill - the next Brexit exercise in lying, dissembling, distraction, malevolence & treating the public with populist contempt not seen by a British government since Eden said that Britain was invading the Suez Canal in order to keep the peacepic.twitter.com/kiw8HPlpJc— Andrew Adonis (@Andrew Adonis) 1643618796
It's likely that the "Brexit freedoms bill" will be a rehash of Frost's idea to give extensive further power to the executive (rather than Parliament) to amend former EU law - on labour and environmental standards, for instancehttps://twitter.com/AllieHBNews/status/1487911763559464972\u00a0\u2026— Steve Peers (@Steve Peers) 1643583317
A Brexit Freedoms Bill? This is laughable rubbishpic.twitter.com/Hl7GrtOH7g— John Rentoul (@John Rentoul) 1643617672
Nick Ferrari -How have we benefited from brexit? \n\nSimon Clarke - The biggest benefit was the vaccination programme ... we've been able to scrap EU freedom of movement.. & that's a huge step forward.. \n\nNF - Don't treat me as an idiot.. 5 hour delays at Dover\n\n#LBCpic.twitter.com/fRWmrkRVYl— Haggis_UK \ud83c\uddec\ud83c\udde7 \ud83c\uddea\ud83c\uddfa (@Haggis_UK \ud83c\uddec\ud83c\udde7 \ud83c\uddea\ud83c\uddfa) 1643625663
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".
Meanwhile Emily Thornberry, Labour’s shadow attorney general, said: “For all this talk from the Government about the potential legislative freedom we have outside the EU, they still refuse to make a concrete change the Labour Party has been demanding in this area for months, which is the removal of VAT on people’s energy bills.
“The British public overwhelmingly support Labour’s proposed change, and it is time the Government started listening.”
Johnson got Brexit "done" so why is Brexit legislation still being made two years later?
Have your say in our news democracy. Click the upvote icon at the top of the page to help raise this article through the indy100 rankings.