Retained EU Law BilL: Make Peers and MPs Kill the bill!

The egregious bill to write off 50 years of progressive European law/regulation and 4000 individual pieces of law begins its passage through the House of Lords on February 6. We are urging our members and supporters to contact peers to ask them to support amendments and/or go further and stop the bill in its tracks.

Here is a recent email to our supporters:

Three years after Brexit, we are writing to alert you to the very worrying implications of legislation currently before Parliament. It threatens the basic rights and protections we have long enjoyed – in Scotland and elsewhere in the UK – in a headlong race to the bottom cheered on by the ideologues of the Eurosceptic right. Jacob Rees-Mogg’s legacy Bill – which the Sunak government is wilfully pursuing despite warnings from all sides – is a ticking time bomb that threatens us all. 

The “Retained EU Law (Revocation and Reform) Bill” will be pored over by the House of Lords from Monday 6 February. It is bound to be substantially amended by peers over the coming days and weeks. 

If you know any peers, please consider writing to express your concerns along the lines of the draft letter here. Copy and paste the text (contained in the EMiS email sent to all members/supporters) into an email and update the names and your home address. You can get the email address of a peer by finding them at the following website

You have every right to express your concerns to Scottish members of the Lords about the impact on Scotland – and peers must consider representations made to them.

Please don’t make the mistake of thinking that this is a dry constitutional debate about parliamentary scrutiny. The two links in the letter will take you to publications that will explain the huge risks involved and why defeating the Bill’s damaging provisions is vital to us all.”

“The Bill will damage the Uk’s reputation.”

The Bar Council

The Delegated Powers & Regulatory Reform Committee in the House of Lords also delivered a damning assessment.

Unpicking the Retained EU Bill: What does it mean for Parliament? – A Hansard Society webinar savages the bill.

Here’s what Glasgow thinks of the Bill:

And here’s Alyn Smith MP on why the bill is bad:

Image of House of Lords via Wikimedia Commons under ogl licence.

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