The government has announced a major climbdown over its Brexit plans to remove EU laws from British statute books by the end of the year.
The EU Retained Law Bill currently going through parliament was due to automatically delete any European legislation at the end of 2023 – unless it was explicitly chosen to be saved.
But ministers on Wednesday quietly confirmed that they were gutting the bill’s “sunset clause” and that the mass deletion would not go ahead as planned.
Now, only EU laws specifically chosen to be repealed will be scrapped – with the rest automatically becoming UK law at the end of the year.
The change, confirmed by business secretary Kemi Badenoch in a written ministerial statement, turns the logic of the bill on its head and has enraged some hardcore Brexiteers, who were keen to expunge the influence of Brussels from the statute books.
Opposition parties described the change as a “humiliating U-turn” and the remaining bill as a “sinking ship”, while businesses said the move was a “huge sigh of relief”.
There had been concern that workers’ rights and environmental rules might be among those set to be canned by the bill – either intentionally or by accident.
Businesses also complained that it created significant uncertainty.
Civil servants had been racing against time to go through rules and decide whether they needed saving – and critics had warned that the rushed process could see important rules accidentally deleted.
Ms Badenoch said in a written statement published on Wednesday afternoon that said she was proposing “a new approach” which would “replace the current sunset in the Bill with a list of the retained EU laws that we intend to revoke under the Bill at the end of 2023”.
“This provides certainty for business by making it clear which regulations will be removed from our statute book, instead of highlighting only the [EU law] that would be saved,” she said.
“We will retain the vitally important powers in the Bill that allow us to continue to amend EU laws, so more complex regulation can still be revoked or reformed after proper assessment and consultation.”
Ms Badenoch says the number of laws intended to be revoked by ministers at the end of 2023 is around 600 out of 4,800 on the books.
Officials confirmed on Wednesday that they were planning to consult on changes to the EU’s working time directive, including removing the requirement for companies to keep working time records.
Jacob Rees-Mogg, who drew up the original retained law bill, accused prime minister Rishi Sunak of breaking his promise and declared: “‘The blob has triumphed.”
“The written ministerial statement breaks the prime minister’s clear promise to review or appeal all EU laws in his first hundred days,” he said.
“Instead, he has decided to keep nearly 90 per cent of retained EU law.
“This is an admission of administrative failure, an inability of Whitehall to do the necessary work and an incapability of ministers to push this through their own departments.”
Labour shadow cabinet office minister Jenny Chapman described the policy change as a “humiliating U-turn from a weak and divided government with no clue how to grow our economy, protect workers, support business or build a better Britain outside the EU”.
She added: “After wasting months of parliamentary time, the Tories have conceded that this universally unpopular bill will damage the economy, at a time when businesses and families are already struggling with the Tory cost of living crisis. They are now trying to adopt some of Labour’s amendments to try and rescue this sinking ship of a bill.
“We will continue to fight to ensure this legislation does not water down hard won workers’ rights, undermine business confidence, or give ministers unaccountable powers they cannot be trusted with.”
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Show all 50Businesses and safety experts welcomed the move.
Jane Gratton, head of people policy at the British Chambers of Commerce, said it was welcome that the government had listened to criticism and was withdrawing the sunset clause.
“Firms will breathe a huge sigh of relief that steps are being taken to reduce the cumulative burden of red tape that have placed a stranglehold on their ambition and ramped up cost,” she said.
“But they have also been worried about the headlong rush towards the sudden removal of vast swathes of legislation overnight, that could make it harder to compete internationally.
“It is welcome that government has listened, and the Bill will no longer apply a blanket sunset clause in this way, with the real risk of unintended but negative consequences.”
Errol Taylor, chief executive at the Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents, said the bill had been “shrouded in confusion and mystery” and had “left business owners and the public in limbo”.
“We therefore welcome the government’s announcement that it intends to make it clear which laws it intends to remove from the statute book.
“We intend to scrutinise the government’s amendment carefully to ensure that no lifesaving legislation is repealed, and that any future changes are made only when due consultation and a proper parliamentary process has taken place.”
Lib Dem peer Lord Fox said the Tories had “dug themselves into a hole” with the bill, adding: “While they may have stopped digging, they’re still in the hole.”
“In their desperate attempts to avoid this legislation turning into chaos, they’re still leaving a lot of uncertainty. Both the public and businesses should be able to go on without being constantly concerned by the precariousness of so many of our laws.”
The changes announced by Ms Badenoch will be introduced through a government amendment to the bill.
She said that the original design of the bill meant that civil servants were focused on which laws should be saved rather than “prioritising meaningful reform”.
The bill was introduced by Jacob Rees-Mogg, who was business secretary under former prime minister Liz Truss.
