The British government has backed away from plans to change or repeal hundreds of laws it inherited from the EU by the end of the year due to the “risk of legal uncertainty,” Business Minister Chemi Patenoch announced. In a written statement tabled in parliament on Wednesday, the minister said the executive would amend the law so that all laws of European origin would automatically expire at the end of the year.
Badenoch said only “about 600 laws” would be removed, along with 500 regulations related to financial services, to “open up investment and support growth.”
Labor MP Jenny Chapman, a key opposition force, described the announcement as a “shameful U-turn by a weak and divided government”. Former economy minister Jacob Rees Mogg, who authored the law, quipped, “Unfortunately, the Prime Minister has broken her own promise, not EU laws.”
The plan, which is mainly targeted by Eurosceptic conservatives after leaving the European Union in 2020, has come under criticism from opposition parties, businessmen and other sectors due to its short timeframe and the impact on respective operations, requiring more time for analysis and debate. For example, environmentalists have warned of the consequences of scrapping 570 laws related to climate and biodiversity protection. According to Kemi Badenoch, more than 1,000 EU laws have already been “suppressed or amended”.
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