Afternoon summary
Ed Miliband, the shadow secretary for climate change and net zero, has said Cop27 failed on the key issue of keeping global heating to just 1.5C above pre-industrial levels. (See 4.23pm.) He was speaking in the Commons during an urgent question where he also said UK leadership on the issue was at risk. He also said the UK was failing to show leadership on the climate crisis. He said:
The government at home is indulging in a dash for new fossil fuel licences which won’t even make a difference to bills and it refuses to rule out a new coal mine in Cumbria.
Can the minister say, what kind of leadership is it, if we tell others not to have new fossil fuel exploration, but we say it’s okay for us to do it here at home ... I urge the government to show consistent leadership, to lower bills, create jobs and act before it’s too late.
Nusrat Ghani, the industry minister who was responding, said at the summit the prime minister pledged to “speed up the transition to renewables, to create new, high-wage jobs, protect UK energy security, and deliver on net-zero, and chaired a high level meeting on forests, and announced new support for climate vulnerable countries”. But Caroline Lucas, the Green party MP, said that Sunak’s response to the conclusion of the summit showed he was not taking the issue seriously. (See 3.06pm.)
Photograph: Simon Dawson/No10 Downing Street
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Regulation watchdog says ministers have failed to provide justification for plan to scrap remaining EU laws
A regulation watchdog has given a damning verdict on the arguments being used by the government to justify the bill that could disapply more than 2,000 remaining laws.
In a report, the regulatory policy committee (RPC) says the government should not be embarking on such sweeping change without having a proper assessment of what the consequences might be.
The committee is a government body set up to provide independent advice on watchdogs. It describes itself as the better regulation watchdog.
It has made its comment in an analysis of the impact assessment published by the government to justify its retained EU law (revocation and reform) bill.
The committee says:
The bill proposes sunsetting more than 2,400 pieces of retained EU legislation (REUL) on 31 December 2023, unless, before then, a departmental review proposes retention of, or changes to, the legislation, or delays the sunset until 2026. No impacts for changes to individual pieces of REUL have been assessed at this stage. We asked the [business] department to commit to assessing the impact of changed and sunsetted legislation, for RPC scrutiny in the future, but the Department has not made a firm commitment to do so …
As the independent better regulation watchdog, it is our view that those affected by regulatory change should reasonably expect the government to properly consider the impacts of such changes. We are not assured that the impact of changing or sunsetting each piece of REUL will be calculated or understood under proposals currently in place - particularly where no related secondary legislation is required.
Commenting on the report, Frances O’Grady, the TUC general secretary, said:
This reckless bill is puts at risk vital workplace protections – like holiday pay, safe working hours and protection from discrimination.
It has been being rushed through with no consultation and no real thought for the impacts on working people and employers.
This damning assessment from the government’s own experts must force ministers to rethink.
They do not have mandate to slash and burn people’s rights at work. They must ditch this toxic bill now.
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