Campaigning for high food and farming standards and for trade deals that don’t undermine them.
When the UK exited the European Union it transferred thousands of laws on to the UK statute book. These laws, which the UK helped draw up, cover the protection of the environment, food and farming standards, public health and workers rights.
The Retained EU Law (Revocation and Reform) Bill (REUL) will give the Government powers to revisit and possibly revoke those laws by the end of December 2023. This has implications for our rights as citizens, consumers and workers.
It is a bill that has few friends. Criticism has come from businesses, civil society groups, trade unions and legal groups. An independent regulation watchdog has called the Bill as “not fit for purpose”.
Defra alone has more than 1700 pieces of legislation to revisit. Not only does it give Ministers a red pen to revise or cross out decades-worth of laws with no scrutiny, but it also stops those laws being strengthened subsequently.
