This is an important summary of the situation from Jacob Öberg:
Absolute must-read Brexit newsletter by Peter Foster which this week takes a shot at our ‘beloved’ Retained EU Law Bill (returning to the Commons) which is what Peter calls some ‘pretty crazy baggage’ from the outwardly sensible Sunak Government.
Short recall, the REUL Bill intends to rip up all EU-derived law by the end of 2023, setting Whitehall a blistering timetable to “review or revoke” some 4,000 pieces of EU-derived legislation that provide legal stability over vast areas of life.
The perhaps most despicable part of the REUL Bill is the sunset-clause that means that any law that has not been ‘reviewed or revoked’ by the end of 2023 will automatically drop off the statute book, creating… surprise… “massive uncertainty for business and investors”.
As mentioned by Peter in the letter and as I previously tweeted about, the Regulatory Policy Committee gave the REUL Bill a red warning, ‘not fit for purpose’.
Yes, pretty much everyone (lawyers, business groups, conservationists, charities, trade unions, devolved administrations in Cardiff and Edinburgh) hates it ,apart from Tory brexiteers.
Why is this such a bad piece of legislation then? We have been here before but shortly the legislation is incredibly broad revoking swaths of EU-derived secondary legislation that give effect to EU directives that are implemented in UK law — eg, the Working Time Directive.
The legislation removes the supremacy of EU law in UK law so that even primary legislation implementing EU law (not covered by the REUL bill) will be subject to uncertainty because UK courts are no longer required to interpret that law in line with the rulings of the CJEU
Finally, the legislation is “fundamentally undemocratic” containing Henry VIII powers enabling ministers or devolved authorities to revoke any secondary retained EU law & replace provisions as the national authority considers to be appropriate to achieve the same objective.
To summarise the REUL Bill is a complete ‘mess’ making UK ‘uninvestable’ . ” Business has pretty much stopped asking for new things now. They just plead for stability.” This is far cry from it…
Originally tweeted by Jacob Öberg (@Jacobbe79601492) on 13/01/2023.
Full text Amendment 36:
Clause 1, page 1, line 12
at end insert—
“(3A)The Secretary of State must, no later than three months before the date specified in subsection (1), publish a list of all legislation being revoked under this section (the “revocation list”) and lay a copy before Parliament.
(3B)With each update of the revocation list up to the date specified in subsection (1), the Secretary of State must lay an updated copy of the revocation list before Parliament.
(3C)Any legislation not included in the revocation list, as updated, on the date specified in subsection (1) is not revoked.
(3D)At any time before the date specified in subsection (1), the House of Commons may by resolution amend the revocation list by adding or removing instruments specified in the resolution, and the Secretary of State must accordingly lay the updated revocation list before Parliament.
(3E)At any time before the date specified in subsection (1), the House of Lords may by resolution propose amendment of the revocation list by adding or removing instruments specified in the resolution.
(3F)If the House of Commons does not pass a motion disagreeing with a resolution of the House of Lords under subsection (3E) within ten days of the date of that resolution, the Secretary of State must amend the revocation list in accordance with the resolution of the House of Lords and lay the updated version before Parliament.
(3G)If the Secretary of State does not amend the revocation list when required to do so by paragraphs (3D) or (3F) before the date specified in paragraph (1), the revocation list will be deemed to have been amended as specified in the resolution of the relevant House of Parliament, and the relevant legislation will be treated as though the change has been made.
(3H)Any legislation to which section (3C) applies is not to be considered as either retained EU law or assimilated law.”
Member’s explanatory statement
This amendment would require the Government to publish an exhaustive list of every piece of legislation being revoked under the Sunset Clause, and allow for Parliamentary oversight of this process so that it is the House of Commons which has the ultimate say on which legislation is affected.
