London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Thursday, Jul 10, 2025

Chris Mason: Sunak pledge to scrap EU laws collides with reality

Chris Mason: Sunak pledge to scrap EU laws collides with reality

This is a classic example of a big, bold campaigning promise colliding with reality.

When Rishi Sunak was running to be Conservative leader last summer, he put out a video.

In it, inside what is called the 'Brexit Delivery Department,' vast bundles of paper representing EU laws thud down on a desk, and then a shredder is wheeled into the room.

And yes, you guessed it, those A4 pages encounter oblivion, one after another, as they are fed in.

"Keep Brexit safe," the video concludes. "Vote Rishi Sunak today."

Well, not enough people did, from his perspective, but he became prime minister in the end nonetheless - and now that video has collided with reality.

It turns out trying to feed too much stuff into a shredder, too quickly, runs the risk of not being able to read it all before it encounters the metal gnashers and is torn to smithereens.

The government ditching its plan to automatically cull thousands of EU-era laws at the end of this year has had the whiff of inevitability about it for time.

For months, a myriad of groups have raised concerns about the unintended consequences of laws disappearing by default.

But plenty of Tory MPs are grumpy about this, seeing it as a straight forward failure to deliver from the prime minister.

One told me many felt the government was acting in "bad faith" and they didn't buy the argument that this was an impossible deadline.

Around 20 Conservative MPs went to see the chief whip Simon Hart to register their irritation.

Some Tory MPs went into Downing Street to do the same.

"There was an arms race in last summer's leadership race, where Liz and Rishi found themselves out Brexiting each other. That's where all this started," one senior figure told me.

Ministers claim they are now being pragmatic.

They say they are still "taking back control", as the Brexit campaign slogan put it, but are doing so at a more sensible pace.

The move has angered Brexiteer Tory MPs like Jacob Rees-Mogg


"Kemi [Badenoch] approaches Brexit not as an end in itself, but as a means to an end," one ally said of the business and trade secretary.

She happened to inherit all this because it had been a responsibility of Jacob Rees-Mogg, who was briefly Business Secretary under Liz Truss.

Mr Rees-Mogg is now the most outspoken public critic of Mrs Badenoch's plan.

Ministers are promising to get rid of another 600 laws by the end of the year - we'll find out which ones next week.

They claim around 1,500 others have either already gone, have been reformed, or that they soon will be.

But that still leaves a couple of thousand not yet looked at.

The old saying goes that politicians campaign in poetry and govern in prose.

In this instance, we've gone from a brash campaign video last August to a government ministerial statement nine months later.

And a broken promise.

Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
Severe Heatwave Claims 2,300 Lives Across Europe
NVIDIA Achieves Historic Milestone as First Company Valued at $4 Trillion
Declining Beer Consumption Signals Cultural Shift in Germany
Linda Yaccarino Steps Down as CEO of X After Two Years
US Imposes New Tariffs on Brazilian Exports Amid Political Tensions
Azerbaijan and Armenia are on the brink of a historic peace deal.
Emails Leaked: How Passenger Luggage Became a Side Income for Airport Workers
Polish MEP: “Dear Leftists - China is laughing at you, Russia is laughing, India is laughing”
BRICS Expands Membership with Indonesia and Ten New Partner Countries
Weinstein Victim’s Lawyer Says MeToo Movement Still Strong
U.S. Enacts Sweeping Tax and Spending Legislation Amid Trade Policy Shifts
Football Mourns as Diogo Jota and Brother André Silva Laid to Rest in Portugal
Labour Expected to Withdraw Support for Special Needs Funding Model
Leaked Audio Reveals Tory Aide Defending DEI Record
Elon Musk Founds a Party Following a Poll on X: "You Wanted It – You Got It!"
London Stock Exchange Faces Historic Low in Initial Public Offerings
A new online platform has emerged in the United Kingdom, specifically targeting Muslim men seeking virgin brides
Trump Celebrates Independence Day with B-2 Flyover and Signs Controversial Legislation
Boris Johnson Urges Conservatives to Ignore Farage
SNP Ordered to Update Single-Sex Space Guidance Within Days
Starmer Set to Reject Calls for Wealth Taxes
Stolen Century-Old Rolls-Royce Recovered After Hotel Theft
Macron Presses Starmer to Recognise Palestinian State
Labour Delayed Palestine Action Ban Over Riot Concerns
Swinney’s Tax Comments ‘Offensive to Scots’, Say Tories
High Street Retailers to Enforce Bans on Serial Shoplifters
Music Banned by Henry VIII to Be Performed After 500 Years
Steve Coogan Says Working Class Is Being ‘Ethnically Cleansed’
Home Office Admits Uncertainty Over Visa Overstayer Numbers
JD Vance Questions Mandelson Over Reform Party’s Rising Popularity
Macron to Receive Windsor Carriage Ride in Royal Gesture
Labour Accused of ‘Hammering’ Scots During First Year in Power
BBC Head of Music Stood Down Amid Bob Vylan Controversy
Corbyn Eyes Hard-Left Challenge to Starmer’s Leadership
London Tube Trains Suspended After Major Fire Erupts Nearby
Richard Kemp: I Felt Safer in Israel Under Attack Than in the UK
Cyclist Says Police Cited Human Rights Act for Riding No-Handed
China’s Central Bank Consults European Peers on Low-Rate Strategies
AI Raises Alarms Over Long-Term Job Security
Saudi Arabia Maintains Ties with Iran Despite Israel Conflict
Musk Battles to Protect Tesla Amid Trump Policy Threats
Air France-KLM Acquires Majority Stake in Scandinavian Airlines
UK Educators Sound Alarm on Declining Child Literacy
Shein Fined €40 Million in France Over Misleading Discounts
Brazil’s Lula Visits Kirchner During Argentina House Arrest
Trump Scores Legislative Win as House Passes Tax Reform Bill
Keir Starmer Faces Criticism After Rocky First Year in Power
DJI Launches Heavy-Duty Coaxial Quadcopter with 80 kg Lift Capacity
U.S. Senate Approves Major Legislation Dubbed the 'Big Beautiful Bill'
Largest Healthcare Fraud Takedown in U.S. History Announced by DOJ
×