Shackles Off! PM To Rid Britain Of EU Red Tape

Boris Johnson has vowed to sweep away left-over Brussels red tape in a landmark a bill to be announced as part of the Queen's Speech next week.

- Macer Hall

The PM's Brexit Freedoms Bill will rid Britain of rules and regulations that cost firms an estimated £1billion a year.

Other key measures will focus on fostering economic growth to provide a long-term solution to the cost-of living crisis.

The landmark bill will scrap the current special status for EU law that still exists in the UK, and make it easier to remove any restrictions still in force.

It will be the flagship measure in the legislative programme to be announced in the Queen's Speech at the State Opening of Parliament.

Senior figures in Downing Street believe the drive to maximise the UK's Brexit freedom and cut bureaucracy will help rally Tory MPs behind the PM - and help the Government bounce back from an expected drubbing in today's local council elections.

A Downing Street source said: “The first bill in the Queen's Speech will be on cutting EU bureaucracy. It will end the supremacy of EU law.

There are still thousands of EU regulations. This will be the removal of unnecessary restrictions that add to the cost of British business.

“In the past with Brexit, there have been symbolic rather than practical benefits. So this will be a major move in that direction.

“This is the bread and butter of Brexit and part of a major deregulation drive.

“We have not felt the true benefits of Brexit yet, but the Queen's Speech will set out how Britain will benefit moving forwards.

Squeeze

"It is how Britain can map out it's own destiny. It will be a bonfire of red tape.”.

Aides insist the cost of living is still "very much at the top of the Prime Minister's agenda”.