Kemi Badenoch said the plans are ‘the worst of both worlds’.
Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer (Image: Getty)
Sir Keir Starmer has been criticised over reports the Government is planning to introduce a bill to closer align the UK with EU rules. Tory leader Kemi Badenoch said the move which would enable the UK to adopt EU single market rules, without necessarily giving MPs a vote on each piece of red tape, would be “the worst of both worlds”.
In a plan which Brexiteers will likely view as betrayal of the 2016 EU referendum, the Government will seek to pass a new law which would allow single market rules to be adopted through secondary legislation. That is likely to mean new rules being rubber stamped by MPs as Parliament can either approve or reject secondary legislation but cannot amend it. So what do you think? Should the under-pressure PM resign over the latest Brexit betrayal attempt? Vote in our poll and join the debate in the comments section.
Sir Keir has been accused of turning his back on the Brexit vote by attempting to bring the UK closer to the EU as part of his ‘reset’ with the bloc.
Shadow Education Minister Saqib Bhatti MP, backing the Express’ crusade demanding the Government “Give Us a Proper Brexit”, last month said: “Labour is going to take us back into the EU by the back door, Brexiteers need to assemble.”
The UK-EU reset legislation enabling the use of the so-called Henry VIII powers is expected to be part of the King’s Speech package set out on May 13 and will be subject to the full parliamentary scrutiny process as usual.
Kemi Badenoch said to adopt EU rules without a vote in parliament is ‘completely wrong’ (Image: Getty)
But critics said the plan to allow the use of secondary legislation for dynamic alignment with Brussels — changing the UK’s rules to mirror those set in Brussels to make trade easier — would sideline Westminster.
Ms Badenoch told Sky News: “Remember we are a competitive, competing economy. Taking EU rules without having a vote on them is completely wrong.
“If you want to be in the EU, come out and say ‘We want to go back into the EU’. That’s what they’re not brave enough to do.
“So they’re picking this weird hybrid, which is the worst of both worlds. It’s not in the EU, it’s not out. It’s just doing whatever the EU is doing.”
The move is expected to see the UK align with EU single market rules in areas such as food and drink.
The Government has repeatedly made clear the UK will not rejoin the single market but Chancellor Rachel Reeves has set out that areas where the UK diverts from the Brussels rules should be the “exception, not the norm”.
The plans under the new “UK-EU reset Bill”, as it has been unofficially called within Whitehall, would give the Government the mechanism to adopt EU rules in areas where it has signed deals with Brussels.
A Government spokesman said: “The Bill will go through Parliament in the normal way.
“Any new treaties or deals with the EU will also face parliamentary scrutiny, and Parliament will have a role in approving new EU laws required under those deals via secondary legislation.
“This will allow us to deliver a food and drink trade deal worth £5.1 billion a year, backing British jobs and slashing costly red tape for our farmers, producers and businesses.”