Reform vows to repeal leftover EU laws

Reform UK will promise to repeal EU laws left over from before Brexit as part of a slate of new policies being announced before the Budget. Robert Jenrick, the party’s treasury spokesman, will also unveil plans to tear up red tape around home improvements, and do more to help motorists. In the run-up to John Healey’s Budget on Wednesday, Reform is publishing its “teal book” of policies on Monday to rival the Chancellor’s “red book”. The party’s proposals include cutting £40bn of “wasteful” spending on benefits, bringing back imperial measurements, and scrapping net zero rules and foreign subsidies. The party claims this would give the average household £1,300 in tax relief. He will propose “60 job-creating measures” that Reform claims are “fiscally neutral” and could be “implemented immediately at no cost to the Treasury”. EU laws still in force Although Britain left the EU in 2020, a raft of laws that Brussels previously introduced remains in force. Mr Jenrick will pledge to “automatically repeal all remaining unchanged EU law in five years, unless a specific decision is taken to retain it under an affirmative procedure”. Rishi Sunak’s Conservative government committed to scrapping all EU rules still on the statute book by the end of 2023. But Kemi Badenoch, who was the secretary of state for business and trade at the time, said in May that year that it was impossible to push ahead with the plans because of Whitehall intransigence. At the time, Sir Jacob Rees-Mogg, the cabinet minister responsible for the reforms under Boris Johnson, accused ministers of inertia, and said that the “blob” – or the Civil Service – had triumphed. Mark Francois, the chairman of the European Research Group, called the policy withdrawal “a massive climbdown on its own bill despite having such strong support from its backbenchers”. Reform has vowed to bring back imperial measurements by re-legalising their use in business. The teal book, which outlines 36 new policies as well as restating dozens of others, will be revealed as the party seeks to regain momentum after falling to third place in the polls. Ipsos data on Sunday showed Labour on 32 per cent, the Tories on 24 and Reform on 20. The party will pledge to approve drilling in the North Sea’s Rosebank oil field , remove blocks preventing new runways at Gatwick and Heathrow airports, fast-track reservoirs and make it much easier to build housing on “brownfield” sites. Mr Jenrick claimed the Chancellor could be “dodging the tough decisions our country needs” in the Budget. He said: “We can’t continue like this. The country can’t wait 10 years for Andy Burnham to work out a plan – we need action now.” The Reform treasury spokesman will also announce a commitment to tear up red tape on people’s homes by ending the ban on household boilers and making it easier for builders to install air conditioning. The party says it will also remove mandatory Energy Performance Certificate improvements for residential and commercial buildings. Nigel Farage, the leader of Reform UK, said: “The British public is frankly fed up with successive governments dodging the big decisions. “It’s clear that urgent action is required. Reform’s proposals will create a vibrant, growing private sector that delivers well-paid jobs for British citizens.” His party has also vowed to do more to help motorists by prohibiting creating low-traffic neighbourhoods (LTNs) without a referendum that allows those within the commuting zone to vote, as well as subjecting all existing LTNs to such a vote. As well as this, a Reform government would move the requirement for a new car’s first MOT from three years to four. New planning laws would make it much easier for restaurants and cafes to obtain pavement dining licences, double the number of days land can be used for events and markets without planning permission, and permit shops to stay open until 10pm, except on Sundays. Meanwhile, boardroom diversity, equality and inclusion rules would be scrapped and the party would end “the preference for the BBC and Channel 4 on YouTube and other streaming sites”. The party also plans to reduce pressure on parking at airports by removing rules that require them to limit car journeys.