Brexit legislation that could result in 2,400 laws disappearing overnight – including a ban on animal testing for cosmetics, workers’ rights and environmental protections.

[Kendodd]

Does anyone know about this? The government seem really keen to rip up everything. AIBU to be worried or is it not going to happen?

www.gov.uk/government/news/the-retained-eu-law-revocation-and-reform-bill-2022

www.theguardian.com/law/2022/oct/24/post-brexit-proposals-mean-2400-laws-could-disappear-lawyers-warn

Yes, this is exactly why us Remoaners warned that Brexit would be a shitshow. The Tories just wanted to get rid of all our hard-won rights and laws.

Well, now it's happening. Enjoy. I hope the people who voted to leave are most affected.

This is what the code for taking back control was - it’s sovrinty innit

Yes its madness. Note also that as an alternative to all the law going pop (the default position if government does nothing), the government (not parliament) can decide to replace and amend laws with alternatives they consider "appropriate".

I mean why even bother having a parliament, we could just let our corrupt government set all the rules with no oversight whatsoever.

How Parliament can vote for this with NO idea of what the government actually plans to do with respect to each law (or even, entire policy areas), I don't know. If this gets passed it's pure wild west territory for the UK and is frankly very bad news for everyone, whether business owners, employees, employers or consumers.

To give one example in my domain (consumer law):

• your right to return products bought online within 14 days for any reason - gone.
• your right to protection from unscrupulous business practices including aggressive and misleading behaviour - gone.
• your right to be subject to fair terms and conditions that are not unreasonably one sided and which make sense to you as an ordinary person, not a lawyer - gone.

This is not about getting Brexit done. Brexit has happened. If we want to take back control of our laws then fine, but do it properly and consider what alternative law is appropriate. The answer cannot be "none" by default.

That’s my worry too. A sunset law that automatically repeals all the laws unless something is written to replace them is setting a hard and fast deadline. There is no doubt we do need to comb through everything we inherited from the EU and do a keep, modify or scrap determination for them. The main issue is that 2026 is too short for 2,400 laws. So they either should change the date or make the # of laws into a first batch of a smaller number of laws. Perhaps after we’ve done a keep, modify or scrap determination? But all the “scrap” ones on there and that is a kind of last call if you object make it known now as the law will be gone in two years time.

@cakeorwine agreed, I think that’s the conclusion I’m coming to also

Sadly, a good number of them were dinosaurs and between 2016 and now have become fossils in their graves, beyond reach or care.

A sunset law that automatically repeals all the laws unless something is written to replace them is setting a hard and fast deadline.

Yes that’s the concern. I feel the public should have been more informed and involved by now.

Of course, Labour could easily add replacement laws in their manifesto.

e.g. We will ensure that consumers are protected.
We will ensure you have the right to holidays, maternity pay
We will ensure that you can claim compensation from airlines.

All things that people want. I would love to see Conservatives arguing about that when they were the ones who MAY be getting rid of regulations like this or reforming them

Although concerned about the timeframe and process, I don’t think it’s fair to assume the intention is just to get rid of the whole lot and take away rights they all enjoy too. Let’s be reasonable.

@WahineToa if that’s not scarcastic it’s very naive. This government is proper full on corrupt

'Of course, Labour could easily add replacement laws in their manifesto'

It is not that simple though. Here is labour's take on it
labourlist.org/2022/10/labour-must-take-back-control-of-brexit-for-the-benefit-of-britain/
What looks like a dry list of legislative instructions deletes overnight 2,500 pieces of law on which our way of life has depended for decades. Not only does it abolish all these laws which rested on European statutes on the 31st December 2023 in one go, it offers no clue or certainty as to what will replace them. Furthermore, it demands any replacement be of a lower standard – thus enshrining deregulation as the outcome of Brexit in law. Whether you voted Leave or Remain, no one voted to require a race to the bottom on environmental, consumer or employment protections. Because of the way legislation interacts, any future Labour government will spend years revising the laws this bill rips up in a stroke as it could not simply be repealed. The harm would be done and last a generation.

Having left the EU it is inevitable we need to review our laws to ensure they sit on robust statutes. But this is not just minor or technical changes. The government’s dashboard – setting out every piece of legislation they say is affected – covers anything from the requirements that ensure the Olympics is free to air and no country act to undermine that, protection that if your employer goes bust you are entitled to at least 50% of your pension pot, requirements to stop cancer causing chemicals in cosmetics, airline safety standards, vital environmental protections that cover sites of special interest and even insider trading. The list covers over 300 different policy areas, with many not having any clear ministerial lead to take responsibility for what happens when they are deleted.

Passing replacements will take ages

The ERG people are Libertarians who want a "small state" like the US model. Lower standards across the board to save companies money.
Let the market decide.
That's not a good thing.

Maybe you are right or maybe you are wrong.

But out of those 2,400 EU laws could you please give just one example of an unnecessary EU law tying the UK up in red tape.

I think many people think “but they won’t actually let that happen”.

but the conservatives have proved that they will.

they genuinely don’t care about any not wealthy or the environment or Britain’s international reputation

This happened a couple of years ago before we left the EU.
In effect we passed an overarching law that said these 2400 laws/rules/regs are retained and incorporated into UK law. Now we have the next stage which is reviewing all these laws/rules/regs and by the end of 2023 either
a) incorporating them "as is" as amendments to existing UK laws
b) incorporating them "as is" as new individual UK laws
c) amending them and doing a) or b)
d) scrapping them as unnecessary.
e) Making a positive decision on the most difficult/contentious pieces for later discussion before the second deadline in 2026.

There is no doubt that this needs doing, and it was always known that this would be required. If it is not done, in some cases we will have the stupid situation where we have an EU law/rule as it was before 2020 frozen in UK law where the EU no longer follow it because they have since scrapped/amended/replaced it.

I share other posters' apprehension about the timescales and the inevitable Tory bias that could be incorporated in the exercise, but there could well be a Labour government in power for half the exercise who would incorporate their own bias. I believe we have to trust the professionalism of the civil service and the scrutiny of select committees and the House of Lords - just as have to with any new legislation.

@DesMoulinsRouge

"The ERG people are Libertarians who want a "small state" like the US model. Lower standards across the board to save companies money.
Let the market decide.
That's not a good thing."

+++

Whether a "small state" and lower regulation is a good thing or not is of course a matter of political opinion.

However to make this theory work you also need lower Government spending and cutting Government spending is never a vote winner. So we had the car crash economics of Liz Truss promising to cut taxes at the same time as not cutting spending for example stating the pension triple lock would stand.

A lower tax and higher spending model simply doesn't add up or work as Liz Truss found out. So we are now moving to a higher tax and trying to keep spending on services stable whilst covering new spends such a the energy support scheme. In this model there is no need to junk standards.

Yes I understand that, I'm merely stating their ideology in the context of the 2400 laws.

Personally I don't agree with it. I think most ordinary people wouldn't if they realised what the consequences might be.
I don't think a cliff edge for that much legislation is a good idea but for a section of the Tory party it was the whole point imo.

This

I believe we have to trust the professionalism of the civil service and the scrutiny of select committees and the House of Lords - just as have to with any new legislation.

Yes, me too. It’s just the timeframe I don’t think makes it possible.

Tbh it's not like they are not busy with other important things.
Don't forget the "we will get rid of xxx civil servants" while giving them extra job...

They can be professional and great, bit if it has to be rushed, things will get missed

Let's hope they are still not planning to cut 91000 civil service jobs then.

Yes that is the myth that Boris Johnson and his cohorts was promoting for years in the right wing British press.

And thank heavens for uk civil servants who have kept government departments running while the politicians went through recent successive meltdowns!

@midgetastic
They can very easily say all Laws will roll over into uk law as they are
No need to scrap them
That is precisely what was done. Hence 'Retained EU Law'.