Tories’ revised plans to scrap EU laws are still reckless, say lawyers

Proposals put forward by Kemi Badenoch, the business secretary, will remove decades of legal precedent, creating uncertainties that are likely to weaken rights and protections. Photograph: Wiktor Szymanowicz/Shutterstock

The Conservatives’ decision to water down proposed legislation to remove 4,000 EU laws from the statute books is still a “reckless” and “irresponsible” project, leading barristers have said.

While the business secretary, Kemi Badenoch, was accused of “a massive climbdown”, barristers say the retention of sweeping “undemocratic” ministerial powers and the removal of the “interpretive effect” of EU law will blow up decades of legal precedent set by courts in Britain and makes for legislation like that found in authoritarian states.