In his never-ending mission to reboot his premiership, Keir Starmer has found a great new cause: Europe. The Prime Minister’s allies are briefing furiously that their boss is keen to pick a fight on this issue, believing it is a chance to win Remainers back to the Labour party. Ministers are to introduce legislation that would allow them to align the UK with new Brussels regulations in areas such as food standards or carbon emissions.
However, these would be approved through secondary legislation, which cannot be amended and is usually rubber-stamped without an official vote by MPs, under what are known as ‘Henry VIII powers’. The use of these powers is a somewhat cynical move: Labour has a super-majority in parliament and can easily win any votes it chooses. But while this tactic might be designed to raise the profile of Labour’s EU pivot, Mr S is more interested in the hypocrisy of Starmer’s sudden decision to bypass parliament.
Cast your mind back to 2017 when he was writing in the Sunday Times:
There must be a completely different approach to the use of so-called “Henry VIII powers”. Taking back control did not mean silencing parliament and handing sweeping powers to government ministers.
One rule for thee, another for me…
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