Trade Minister Kimi Badnoch has announced that the British government has backed away from its plan to change or repeal hundreds of laws inherited from the European Union by the end of this year because of the “risk of legal uncertainty”. In a written statement delivered on Wednesday in parliament, the minister said the executive branch would amend the legislation so that all laws of European origin would automatically stop at the end of the year.
Only “about 600 laws” would be repealed, Badenoch said, along with 500 regulations specifically related to financial services “to open up investment and support growth.”
Labor MP Jenny Chapman, the main force in the opposition, called the announcement “a humiliating turnaround from a weak and divided government”. Former economics minister Jacob Rees-Mogg, author of the legislation, quipped that “unfortunately, the prime minister broke his promise and not the EU laws”.
Intended mainly by Eurosceptic conservatives after leaving the EU in 2020, the proposal has been the subject of criticism from the opposition, business and other sectors due to its short deadline and impact on the activities involved, requiring more time for analysis and discussion. For example, environmentalists have warned of the consequences of abandoning the 570 laws on climate protection and biodiversity. According to Kimi Badenoch, more than 1,000 EU laws have been “repealed or amended”.
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