Minister Kemi Badenoch embroiled in public row with Eurosceptics over scrapping EU laws post-Brexit

LONDON – Business and Trade Secretary Kemi Badenoch is embroiled in a heated public row with conservative Eurosceptics over the UK’s efforts to scrap EU laws inherited after Brexit.

Senior Conservative MP David Jones on Tuesday morning accused the rising Tory star of a lack of “politeness” and “disrespect” towards the House of Commons by slowing down Government efforts to scrap EU legislation after MPs had already passed a key bill .

But when he spoke at a session of the House of Commons European Inquiry Committee, Badenoch hit back. She accused Jones, deputy leader of the European Research Group of Tory MPs, of leaking details of private meetings to British newspapers. And she rejected the bill’s characterization as a “campfire” of EU laws.

“It’s common knowledge that we had private meetings because when I thought we were having private and confidential meetings I read the content in the Daily Telegraph,” Badenoch told Jones.

The UK government’s retained EU law bill originally included a strict sunset clause for 2023, which would automatically wipe out any post-Brexit EU law adopted by the end of this year unless the law had been reviewed by officials and ministers. By 31 December, around 4,000 legal acts would have had to be reviewed.

Badenoch decided to amend the bill after companies complained that the measure created serious regulatory uncertainty.

Instead, around 600 EU laws will be reviewed by the UK government this year, which Badenoch says will be more targeted and business-friendly.

Conservative MP Richard Drax also targeted Badenoch, saying her approach has sparked “suspicion” among some Tories who fear “this bonfire will not happen”.

“It’s not the campfire of regulations — we’re not arsonists,” Badenoch retorted. “I’m certainly not an arsonist. I’m a conservative.”

“I think we want to get rid of laws that we don’t want – there’s a process for that.”

Committee chairman Bill Cash – a longtime Tory Eurosceptic – said Badenoch’s new approach had created “legal uncertainty” and meant the UK would now have “two separate codes of law for the courts to interpret”.