Let's face it, we are five years on from the start of the campaign and Brexiteers have been thinking about it for far longer but seem hard pushed to produce a list of these oppressive rules that the wicked bureaucrats in Brussels have forced on us.. Think tanks and Whitehall have had several goes at coming up with the most burdensome regulations but they too have failed.
A few weeks ago, in a conference call with 250 business leaders Johnson was embarrassingly reduced to asking them if they could think of anything. They couldn't I assume, at least not off the top of their heads. It as as if we've arrived as Shangri-La but we have no idea what to do next - or even why we came at all.
But as with the search for other non-existent things like the Loch Ness monster, the Brexiteers at the very top of government have convinced themselves the pesky regulations must be in there somewhere and therefore the search must go on.
And lets' face it, this is crucial to the government's Brexit agenda. At the moment we are in the weird position of being perfectly aligned with EU regulations while suffering almost maximum trade friction. It can't be long before people begin asking - what the point of it all was.
In January The Sun was reporting a new search party was being formed: RED TAPE BLITZ Boris Johnson’s new task force will set business free of old EU rules. It doesn't mention earlier attempts but says, a cross-government unit will help find opportunities through a series of “deep dives” to weed out unwanted EU regulations. They may need a bathysphere.
The task force with the intrepid Iain Duncan Smith at the head has now been officially announced. The objectives are set out below:
The Taskforce on Innovation, Growth and Regulatory Reform is being convened to scope out and propose options for how the UK can take advantage of our newfound regulatory freedoms to deliver these aims, as well as challenging the Government’s own emerging proposals. In particular:
Opportunities which could drive innovation and accelerate the commercialisation and safe adoption of new technologies, cementing the UK’s position as a global science and technology superpower.
Opportunities to reduce barriers to entry in specific markets and make markets more dynamic and contestable across the economy.
Opportunities to reduce administrative barriers to scaling up productive businesses; and to tailor any necessary processes to the needs of UK start-ups and SMEs while maintaining the Government’s commitment to high environmental standards and worker protections.
Opportunities to improve small business’ experience of necessary regulatory requirements.
Sectors of the economy or regulatory frameworks which should be prioritised for further regulatory deep dives.
The idea we are a technology superpower is laughable but I'll leave that for the time being. The penultimate objective seems to be more about convincing SMEs that regulations are necessary rather than stripping them away.
Meanwhile, the FT has a report which suggests there isn't going to be a "slash and burn" approach. It looks like a bit of expectation management to me. In other words don't expect too much. In case you can't see it behind the paywall, I give you some extracts from it:
