Question to the Department for Exiting the European Union :

To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they intend to maintain protections derived from EU regulations relating to social, consumer and employment rights, and environmental protections, following the UK's withdrawal from the EU.

The European Union (Withdrawal) Bill aims to maximise certainty for individuals and businesses about their legal rights and obligations as we leave the EU in order to provide the basis for a smooth and orderly exit. The Bill will ensure that the laws and rules that we have now will, so far as possible, continue to apply.

The Bill will convert directly applicable EU law into domestic law. It will also preserve laws we have made in the UK to implement our EU obligations.

In particular, the UK has a long history of protecting human rights, which is unaffected by our withdrawal from the EU, and a strong history of protecting consumer rights. This Government has also made a clear commitment to protect workers’ rights, and ensure that they keep pace with the changing labour market.

In recent weeks we have published a memorandum setting out where the rights in every article of the Charter of Fundamental Rights will continue to be protected in domestic law after exit, and we have set out how we intends to use the powers under clause 7 of the Bill to make amendments to employment legislation.

The UK has a long history of environmental protection which we will safeguard and improve as we leave the EU. We will then have the opportunity, over time to design a set of policies to drive environmental improvement with a powerful and permanent impact, tailored to the needs of our country. In particular, we are setting out plans to consult on a new, independent body to regulate environment policy and hold government to account on environmental commitments once we’ve left the European Union.