I'm confused. For months, both before and after the referendum, when people said they wanted us to make our own laws, I asked what laws they wanted to repeal? I never received an answer. Today, in a White Paper (HERE), the government are consulting on the Great Repeal Bill, which will enable us to repeal or change any EU law we are not happy with. However, it still does not explain which laws they want to repeal but just says, "EU regulations, "will be converted into domestic law by the Bill and will continue to apply until legislators in the UK decide otherwise".
As if realising people were at last beginning to ask which laws we need to repeal, The Daily Telegraph last week helpfully contained a long article about which five "directives" they wanted to see the back of. It was titled "Cut the EU red tape choking Britain after Brexit to set the country free from the shackles of Brussels". Leaving aside the fact the article contained six items and not five, they listed The Working Time Directive, Bendy bananas, Green energy, protection for the Great Crested Newt, Incandescent light bulbs and a ban on high power vacuum cleaners. Considering the Kingdom shattering impact of Brexit, the reasons seem trivial in the extreme.
The article also contained quotes from Lord Tebbit, Lord Lawson and Ian Duncan Smith but again nothing specific. Owen Patterson actually gave an example. He said we should repeal the CAP and CFP (Fishing) and replace them with "legislation tailored to what is right for us". He did not say what was wrong with the CAP or the CFP and just wanted to replace them with something else.
But the White Paper makes clear we have already "tailored" legislation to what is right for us and it usually goes beyond EU law. "UK employment law already goes further than the minimum standards set out in EU legislation, and this Government will continue to protect and enhance the rights people have at work" - (page 16) and "UK consumer law predates EU competence in this area, and goes beyond EU minimum requirements" - (page 17)
It would not be a surprise to me if at the end of the process no one can think of anything that needs repealing!
