Rishi Sunak, the new British prime minister, has toned down his zeal for the speedy axing of EU legislation, amid warnings that such an exercise could tie up hundreds of civil servants at a time of national crisis.
Sunak promised in August, during his first bid for the Conservative leadership, that he would create a new “Brexit delivery unit”, a pledge illustrated by a video of an official shredding EU laws to the strains of “Ode to Joy”, the European anthem.
But Sunak’s aides admitted on Wednesday that the new unit would not be created. “The time for changes in the machinery of government has passed,” said one ally.
The video also stated that: “In his first 100 days as prime minister, Rishi Sunak will review or repeal post-Brexit EU laws. All 2,400 of them.” That target will also not be met, government officials confirmed.
Meanwhile Sunak has not named a dedicated “Brexit opportunities minister”, a title handed by Boris Johnson to Jacob Rees-Mogg, who took the title with him when he became business secretary under Liz Truss.
Rees-Mogg was sacked by Sunak and Downing Street said the job of overseeing Brexit opportunities would now be given to another minister in the business department, but it would not be a “standalone” job.
Meanwhile, Sunak is also said by government officials to be considering whether to press ahead with a 2023 “sunset clause” for EU regulation, the centrepiece of a bill passing through parliament.
Ministers have been warned that hundreds of civil servants would have to be deployed to assess all 2,400 pieces of retained EU law and to decide whether they should be repealed or transferred into UK legislation.
Rees-Mogg was warned that his business department alone would need to deploy 400 staff to review or repeal the 300 pieces of EU law for which it was responsible.
The Department of Health estimated it would need 100 staff to carry out the same exercise, according to officials briefed on the process.
Although some ministers believe the civil service has exaggerated the scale of the task, one said: “What a waste.”
Government officials said Sunak and Grant Shapps, the new business secretary, had yet to decide whether to stick to the 2023 deadline, or push it back. “As it stands, it’s 2023,” Number 10 said. “It’s too early to say.”
The Retained EU Law Bill, which had its second reading in the House of Commons on Tuesday, does contain “a power of extension” that could allow the deadline to be pushed back to 2026, if necessary.
Rees-Mogg believed that some ministers would drag their feet, according to his allies, but that others such as Steve Barclay, the new health secretary, would accelerate work and repeal unwanted EU laws.
Speaking in Tuesday’s debate, Tory MP Richard Graham expressed “severe doubts” about the practicality of the exercise, in answer to which Rees-Mogg claimed that Graham had “never liked the decision to leave the European Union”.
Ahead of the second reading, a coalition of bodies including the Trades Union Congress, the RSPB and the Wildlife Trusts urged Sunak to kill the legislation outright.
In a joint statement they said: “We are concerned that if passed into law, it could cause significant confusion and disruption for businesses, working people and those seeking to protect the natural environment.”
One senior MP from the pro-Brexit European Research Group said Sunak had assured the group that he was committed to the Retained EU Law Bill and also to legislation to overturn the Northern Ireland protocol, part of Johnson’s Brexit deal.
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