“Boris Johnson will announce a “Brexit Freedoms Bill” on Monday as he urges Brussels to “abandon the punitive and zero-sum approach” it has taken to frustrate Brexit. The PM will also pledge to use powers available after the UK’s withdrawal to cut away a billion pounds’ worth of European Union-era “red tape”, though details are yet to be provided. Mr Johnson vowed to move “ever faster” to unshackle Britain, pledging to scrap thousands of EU laws still in place in the UK. The announcements have been timed to coincide with the second anniversary of Britain’s formal departure from the EU, at 11pm on Jan 31 2020. The drive will be seen as an attempt to refocus minds on one of his main feats as Prime Minister – securing a deal that delivered the UK’s EU exit. Writing in the Daily Mail, he said: “Our new Brexit Freedoms Bill will make it easier to get rid of retained EU law, the weird system by which EU legislation occupies a semi-sacred place on the UK statute book.” He wrote that Brussels will find it “impossible to hold back the UK and impossible to stop this country taking advantage of our new freedoms – and we will go ever faster”.” – Daily Telegraph
Comment:
- Brexit helped us bounce back from Covid – now we’ll go faster with our freedoms and make it easier to get rid of retained EU law, Boris Johnson – Daily Mail
- At last, Johnson is on the offensive over Brexit – Daily Mail Comment
>Today:
- Theresa Villiers in Comment: Regulatory reform – and what the Government must now do to win that Brexit Bonus
Senior MPs tell PM to rethink national insurance hike because it will hit workers during cost of living crisis
“Boris Johnson was urged to ‘think again’ after joining the Chancellor and vowing that the national insurance hike will go ahead in April. The Prime Minister and Rishi Sunak wrote a joint article defending the 1.25 percentage point increase in NI, saying it was vital to fund the Covid NHS backlog, as well as fixing the social care system. Foreign Secretary Liz Truss admitted that tax rises were ‘never popular’, but said the money needed to be raised. It came as research showed that the NI hike will clobber firms in the constituencies of Mr Johnson’s Cabinet. Senior Tory MPs called on the Prime Minister to reverse his decision because of the looming cost of living crisis. Robert Halfon, chairman of the education select committee, said: ‘All I can do as an MP, a backbench MP, is just to urge the Government to think again. I hope that the Government make cost of living the No 1 priority.’ He called on ministers to look at different ways to raise the money that the rise is forecast to produce, such as a ‘windfall tax on big business’. ” – Daily Mail
- Treasury in storm over claim it sank attempts by ‘British FBI’ to investigate Covid fraud – Daily Mail
- Middle class people now paying more than £1 million in tax during lifetime – Daily Telegraph
- Sunak ‘pours taxpayer cash into online betting firm’ – Daily Telegraph
Comment:
- Ordinary households are working nearly two decades to pay off the taxman – it’s time for a rethink, John O’Connell – Daily Telegraph
- Tories can still reverse their ruinous National Insurance hike, Matthew Lesh – Daily Telegraph
- Tories don’t have an answer to the cost of living crisis, because they are the crisis, Rachel Reeves – The Guardian
Levelling-up plans target rogue landlords in the private sector
“Private landlords will be forced by law to bring their properties up to a set of national standards for the first time under plans to be unveiled in the government’s levelling-up strategy. Michael Gove, the housing secretary, will announce legislation that will require landlords to refit about 800,000 properties that don’t meet requirements to be “safe, warm and in a good state of repair”. The law will also introduce a register that anyone renting a house must join, with rogue landlords being ejected from the list. All tenants in the private rental sector would also gain a new right to redress for complaints about their homes. The moves, long demanded by campaigners, will bring the private rental sector into line with the obligations to rent out “decent” properties required of councils and housing associations. These are being reviewed by Gove with the intention that they be toughened and applied to the whole rented sector. This could include new measures on energy efficiency, as well as a minimum standard of fixtures and fittings for furnished accommodation. Ministers hope to halve the number of poor-quality rented homes by 2030.” – The Times
Comment:
- If the Tories really want to ‘level up’ they should ditch their Green mania, Dominic Lawson – Daily Mail