My Lords, I will speak to my Amendments 46 and 47 to the Minister’s Amendment 45, which no doubt he will speak to soon. My amendments add environmental measures to the Minister’s amendment, which exempts financial services measures. Tabling the amendment was rather a flight of mischief, because I thought that, as imitation is the sincerest form of flattery and since the Minister had tabled a fine amendment to get financial services out of the Bill, perhaps I could just follow his good example. I thank him very much for giving me that good idea.
I am sure that the Minister will say he tabled his amendment because the Financial Services and Markets Bill provided a considered and more sensible approach, which it did—but we perhaps need a considered and more sensible approach for all the important issues covered by EU legislation and caught by this Bill. I am talking not just about environmental issues but about consumer and trading standards and workers’ rights. Do they not justify a more considered and sensible approach, rather than this wholesale gallop towards a self-imposed deadline for a constantly shifting number of pieces of law, as listed on the dashboard, which continues to change and presumably will do so right up to the arbitrary deadline? It is a gallop that is diverting huge amounts of civil servants’ time, and all because a few Conservative MPs are allergic to anything that has “EU” in it.
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Perhaps we can ask the Minister to stop the arbitrary gallop and tell us how a more considered and sensible approach will be introduced. I suggest that it needs to prioritise review of legislation when that legislation actually requires review, rather than in a wholesale fashion. It needs to involve a process that introduces wide and effective consultation with businesses, civil society and the public—those who will be impacted by this legislation. It needs to have proper parliamentary involvement and give proper protection to case law and interpretive effects. After all, if I remember correctly, that was the normal and sensible way in which we used to do things.