The Government has caused a stir today as it plans to use “Henry VIII powers” (secondary legislation) to realign our economy with the EU on food standards as part of Keir Starmer’s European reset. The story was broken by Guardian AND FTwith quotes from pro-government sources, and then followed by right-wing newspapers with varying degrees of hysteria. Conservatives have called it a betrayal of Brexit.
In a way this is a special story. The government’s intention to rejoin the EU has been clear. The focus on food standards was set at the reset summit last year, and this ‘Henry VIII powers’ mechanism was always going to be the way to do it: just as it was used by Tory ministers when the UK left the EU in the first place.
This new period of dynamic expansion requires a bill to allow Henry VIII’s powers, which will be voted on by the Commons. The Conservatives will oppose and with their 116 seats will be crushed by the majority of the government.
Subscribe to the New Statesman today and save 75%
The funny thing is, we’ve been here before. Early last year the government tried to rejoin the EU on issues such as the regulation of online markets and the use of weights and measures. It passed the Products and Metrology Regulation Act to implement this. At the time, the Tories called it an “EU Trojan horse” and said they had caught Labor “red-handed” trying to undo Brexit.
That time the government didn’t commit, avoided history and instead sold the bill as a way to make online shopping safer without mentioning the EU. Now, she is going headfirst into war. This is another reminder that Labor is no longer shy about its European ambitions.
This piece first appeared in the Morning Call newsletter; get it every morning by subscribing to Substack here
(Further reading: Michael Ignatieff: Global Orbanism is over)
Content from our partners
