Hundreds of laws covering employment and environmental protections could disappear overnight if Liz Truss becomes prime minister after she promised to scrap all remaining EU regulations by the end of 2023.
Despite warnings about the scale and complexity of the task, Truss launched her leadership runoff campaign by promising a “sunset” for all EU-derived laws within 15 months.
Attempting to position herself as the self-styled “Brexit-delivery prime minister”, Truss’s proposed timetable is notably accelerated from that given by Boris Johnson’s government.
Jacob Rees-Mogg had pushed for a similar cliff-edge deadline, seeing the demise of 2,400 pieces of legislation, but two and a half years later, in June 2026. His plan prompted a cabinet row over feasibility, given the scheduled cull of a fifth of civil service numbers, or about 90,000 jobs.
Experts and union leaders said Truss’s proposals would be hugely difficult to achieve in the context of civil service cuts, with warnings it could end up becoming a “bonfire of rights”. >a href=https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2022/jul/22/bonfire-of-rights-truss-vows-to-scrap-remaining-eu-laws-by-end-2023 target=_blank> » | Peter Walker | Friday, July 22, 2022
The Tories have become the dangerous party. It used to be the party one chose to elect because one felt that the country was in safe hands when they were in power. Not any longer! These days, especially since it turned into the populists' party and especially since Brexit, quite the opposite is true. The European Union had a civilising influence on this 'Upstairs, Downstairs' country of ours. If Tories have "a bonfire of rights", this country will revert to conditions last seen in Victorian times. How disgusting! – © Mark Alexander
