Keir Starmer is planning new legislation which will mean the UK can adopt EU single market rules, as the government’s Brexit reset efforts continue apace.
The new law, set to be unveiled in next month’s King’s Speech, would allow ministers to adopt EU single market rules without approval from MPs.
The bill would bring the UK further in line with EU law on areas such as food standards, animal welfare and pesticide use, a process known as ‘dynamic alignment.’
The government hopes this will lower costs and reduce paperwork for businesses, helping boost growth in Britain.
The bill’s power would mean that once agreements have been reached with the EU, any further changes deemed in the national interest can be waived through without the full scrutiny of parliament.
Changes would be put through using secondary legislation. These Henry VIII-era clauses allow minister to make changes without having to wait for parliamentary approval, the Independent reports.
Whilst parliament would still be able to approve or reject secondary legislation, they would not be able to amend it. Effectively, this means MPs would be rubber-stamping new deals instead of giving them a full debate in Parliament.
Prime minister Keir Starmer has said the changes would be made for the “UK’s best interest”.
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“We’re in a world where there’s massive conflict, great uncertainty, and I strongly believe that the UK’s best interests are in a stronger, closer relationship with Europe, whether that’s defence and security, energy, inevitably, and also, our economy,” he said.
Predictably, the plans have been met with anger from the Conservatives and Reform.
Reform leader Nigel Farage claimed the legislation was a “backdoor attempt to drag Britain back under European Union control”.
He vowed to oppose the legislation “every step of the way.”
Meanwhile, shadow business secretary Andrew Griffith said it would mean Parliament is “reduced to a spectator while Brussels sets the terms”.
Whilst Labour has ruled out rejoining the EU single market or customs union, the plans are the latest in their efforts to seek closer ties with the trading bloc and reset the relationship that became so strained in the wake of Brexit.