Johnson’s ‘Brexit freedoms bill’ won’t set us free. But it will reward his supporters

Boris Johnson on his way to catch a flight to Kyiv, Ukraine, on 1 February 2022. Photograph: Peter Nicholls/PA

To adapt Ronald Reagan’s adage, the nine most terrifying words in the English language are “I’m from the government, and I’ll set you free.” Every time this government says freedom, it means freedom for someone other than you.

Seeking to distract us from his own pursuit of freedom during lockdown, this week Boris Johnson announced what he calls a Brexit freedoms bill. Its purpose is to accelerate the removal of EU rules from our legislation, and to “cut £1 billion of red tape for UK businesses”.