Boris Johnson pledges ‘Brexit Freedoms Bill’ to ease rollback of EU laws – but Scottish minister warns against ‘undermining’ transition | politics news

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Boris Johnson will continue his fight against the party’s scandal by unveiling plans for a “Brexit Freedoms Act” to allow retained EU laws to be removed more easily.

On the second anniversary of the United Kingdom’s formal departure from the European Union, the Prime Minister is vowing to “unleash more the benefits of Brexit” with a promise to cut £1 billion worth of red tape for British businesses.

The plans will be seen in Westminster as part of the so-called “Operation Red Meat” by Mr Johnson to garner support from Conservative MPs with a series of policies attractive to traditional Tory voters.

It comes as several Conservative MPs are publicly speculating about the prime minister’s future in Downing Street while he awaits a report from senior government employee Sue Gray on multiple allegations of breaching the COVID lockdown at No. 10.

The Brexit Freedoms Bill, which Number 10 promises to introduce “in due course”, aims to make it easier to amend or remove laws that have been kept from the UK’s 47-year membership in the European Union.

Under current rules, reforming and repealing such laws would take several years because of the need for basic legislation for many changes, even minor and technical changes, Downing Street said.

The new bill aims to ensure changes can be made more easily and quickly, while Number 10 said the bill was also expected to end the “special status” of EU law – which was made before 1 January 2020 – in the UK’s legal framework.

Photo: Boris Johnson pledges to ‘unlock more of the benefits of Brexit’

The plans will build on the work of former Brexit minister Lord Frost, who has launched a campaign to scrutinize thousands of remaining EU regulations and identify those that could be improved or scrapped.

Officials across the government are currently continuing to review Brussels’ retained laws, although Lord Frost has since resigned from the government amid concerns about the “travel direction” of the Johnson administration.

In addition to revealing plans for the new bill, the government will also publish today a new document outlining how ministers will use new post-Brexit freedoms to benefit the UK economy in areas such as artificial intelligence, data, transport and the environment. .

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Mr Johnson said: “The achievement of Brexit two years ago today was a truly historic moment and the beginning of an exciting new chapter for our country.

“We have made great strides since then to take advantage of our new freedoms and restore the UK’s position as an independent, sovereign nation that can determine its own future.

“The plans we put in place today will unleash the benefits of Brexit and ensure companies can spend more of their money on investing, innovation and job creation.”

Image: Labor questioned why the government was not using post-Brexit capacity to cut value-added tax on energy bills

Prosecutor Soyla Braverman said creating a mechanism to deal with EU retained law was “essential”.

She added: “This means we can move away from outdated EU laws that were the result of unsatisfactory settlements within the EU, some of which the UK voted against and lobbied against – but which was no doubt required to be adopted.”

However, Scottish Culture Minister Angus Robertson criticized the idea, which he said was made through “little discussion and consultation with or respect for the Scottish Parliament and Government”.

He added: “This makes a mockery of the UK government’s recent commitment to restoring relations with devolved governments.

“Within days of the UK government’s promises of more respectful ways of working, we were informed of what was clearly a rushed exercise over the weekend with nothing more than a vague oral briefing.

“If these proposals include changing the law in areas of policy that have been delegated, proceeding without the consent of the Scottish Parliament would again demonstrate the intent of the UK government to undermine the transfer of power.”

Meanwhile, Labor has highlighted one area where the government has so far refused to take advantage of a post-Brexit ability to deviate from EU rules.

Shadow Attorney General Emily Thornberry said: “Despite all this talk from the government about potential legislative freedom we have outside the EU, they still refuse to make a concrete change that Labor has been asking for in this area for months, which is the removal of VAT on the Energy bills for individuals.

“The British public is overwhelmingly in favor of Labour’s proposed change, and it is time for the government to start listening.”

During the 2016 EU referendum campaign, Johnson’s “leave the vote” campaign hailed a cut in value-added tax on energy bills as one of the potential benefits of Brexit.

Earlier this month, Conservative MPs voted against Labor’s proposal to cut value-added tax on household energy bills. One MP even lost the Tory whip after voting in favor of the motion.

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