Rishi Sunak is under pressure from rightwing Tory MPs to stick to a 2023 deadline for reviewing or scrapping EU-era laws on the UK statute book, warning that Labour will exploit any delay at the next election.
Jacob Rees-Mogg, former business secretary, said Labour would claim the Conservatives had a secret agenda to abolish sensitive workplace and environmental protections if the exercise were not completed before an election, expected in 2024.
Rees-Mogg was the architect of the government’s retained EU law bill, which includes a “sunset clause” where any EU-derived legislation that had not been reviewed or revoked before the end of 2023 would automatically expire.