Law firm awarded £4m contract to help with UK Government’s Brexit ‘bonfire’ plans
UK Ministers are spending £4 million to hire a private law firm to help deliver on the government’s promised “bonfire” of 4,000 EU-era laws.
The Department of Business and Trade has hired lawyers from one of the largest firms in the UK amid reports that the Government is likely to fall short of its plan to rid the statute books of EU law by the end of the year.
American-British law firm Hogan Lovells is set to work with the Government until the end of 2023, after being awarded a contract worth around £4 million.
A Government spokesman said: “The Government is fully committed to removing and reforming burdensome EU law, and has procured external legal support to build on existing capacity in the Government Legal Department to assist with delivery of the REUL Reform programme.
“Once passed, the Retained EU Law Bill will enable the country to further seize the opportunities of Brexit by ensuring regulations fit the needs of the UK, helping to drive economic growth and innovation.”
Tendering process
Hogan Lovells was awarded the contract following a tendering process, with the £4 million contract due to run until December 31.
The planned law, which is currently in the House of Lords, will put a “sunset” clause on the remaining EU-derived legislation.
But Brexiteers have grown concerned that the Bill, which has attracted criticism from trade unions and businesses, is in danger of being delayed.
Critics warn that rushing through with the plan would create uncertainty, while also threatening legal rights and protections.
The exact nature of the support to be provided by law firm is not known, but it has published a number of guides to the Bill.
In a post on its website from March, the firm said its lawyers would be “following the Bill’s progress through Parliament and how the Bill’s powers are used (or not) by Ministers in the second half of 2023”.
Support our Nation today
For the price of a cup of coffee a month you can help us create an independent, not-for-profit, national news service for the people of Wales, by the people of Wales.
That is an expensive box of matches…
No expense spared to ram home the full effects of ‘Break-it’ to corner all the wealth to the few and away from the many. An independent Cymru inside the EU is the only way we can escape this evil.
All this focus on Brexit costs is ridiculous when you think that we are already actively enjoying many Brexit benefits now we’re not in the EU and can avoid their oversight and petty regulations: We can now dump sewage in our rivers and on our beaches. We can use bee-killing pesticides. We can ease food standards by not having to have vets certify abattoir meat. We can create a more peaceful environment in our high streets by reducing the over-supply of EU workers to restaurants, pubs and hotels. We don’t have to send migrants back to France, we can keep them… Read more »
Following the Met police showing this weekend, more laws to be removed protecting civil rights, and some still think this is good for Cymru. Indy now.
If it’s only costing £4million for an Anglo- American law firm it’s either a smokescreen or a bum job. For somethiing as complex as this in so short a space of time at this at such a low ( for lawyers) price, I’d say ‘smoke-screen’ so the Tories can have something to blame when it all unravels in a dogs’ breakfast of our rights and Tory cockups
Do keep up. REUL is no longer a bonfire of 4,000 rules(actually there were 3,745 of them) it has been modestly reduced to 800 laws. However, just as with the “arsenic in baby food” fiasco, UK manufacturers are going to ignore the new UK standards and continue to use EU ones so they can actually sell product outside the UK.
Still, it keeps idiots like RT happy i suppose?