A bill designed to slash unnecessary red tape for business is causing controversy in parliament, as the current draft could give politicians enormous new powers to remove existing legislation.
The Legislative and Regulatory Reform bill was launched in response to demands by business groups who called upon the government to cut red tape by 25% in 2006.
However, the first draft of the bill gives ministers the power to amend, replace or repeal any existing regulation by order and without the approval of parliament.
These extraordinary measures, which are only limited so as not to include tax bills or to create criminal offences with a sentence of two years or more, appear to give ministers so much power that critics are already dubbing it the ‘Henry VIII’ or the ‘Abolish Parliament’ bill.
Greg Knight MP, chairman of the commons procedure committee, said last week that “this bill gives ministers powers to bypass the normal procedures required to pass an act of parliament without sufficient restrictions on the misuse of those powers.”
Entrepreneurs, while welcoming measures to cut regulation, are also concerned about the nature of the bill.
“As long as we have a benevolent leader in no. 10, I think the bill could be okay,” Bruce Greig, founder of the 0800 Handyman franchise, told Startups.co.uk.
“But we can’t be certain we’ll always have a benevolent leader. If the day comes when we have a tyrannical leader, this bill will already be on the statute book.”
Greig, however, said he does not expect the current draft of the bill to pass, and currently ministers are considering ways to amend the bill in response to the controversy it is causing.
Cabinet minister Jim Murphy, who is responsible for the bill, said yesterday that “specifics and vetoes about other matters are being considered.”
