Has there ever been a government ambition more talked about but never delivered than a “bonfire of red tape”? The problem is that ministers identify the regulatory kindling but never actually apply the match.
The UK’s departure from the EU offers an opportunity to revisit many of the rules introduced during our membership, often against the UK’s wishes and interests. But even to suggest that any of the thousands of pieces of Euro-derived law might usefully be dispensed with is to invite fulminating hostility. They have attained the status of Holy Writ, untouchable, immutable, enduring.
In her brief time in office, Liz Truss promised to axe 2,400 laws this year and brought forward the Retained EU Law (Revocation and Reform) Bill to carry out the task. This will get through the Commons but the House of Lords is threatening to wreck its provisions, which allow ministers to decide which rules they want to retain, which to scrap and which to change.
The Bill is also facing resistance in Whitehall, where officials have balked at the work involved in reviewing such daunting amounts of legislation. Rishi Sunak has started to wobble by noting that ministers can push back a decision on a specific EU law until June 2026. As we report today, he is also preparing to shelve plans to curb future excessive rule-making.
The Prime Minister may want to narrow the Government’s focus, but a lot of these rules are suffocating economic growth and need revisiting. Existing protections can always be guaranteed under domestic law; but the signs of another bonfire of red tape spluttering to a smoky failure are unmistakable.
We must get rid of burdensome EU red tape
Whatever the Prime Minister's intentions may be, the signs of another bonfire of red tape spluttering to a smoky failure are unmistakable