Britain has avoided more than 395,000 pages worth of EU regulations in the five years since Brexit, GB News can reveal.
Since Britain split from Brussels on January 31, 2020, there have been 7,623 directives, decisions and regulations imposed on the bloc’s member states.
The new orders include directives which could see business leaders prosecuted for making noise underwater, and punished for using outdoor artificial lights which are deemed to pose a threat to the environment.
British taxpayers now save as much as £12.6billion pound per year, with the country no longer obligated to pay annual contributions to the EU.
Responding to the findings from The People’s Channel, Shadow Foreign Secretary Dame Priti Patel said: “Under the leadership of the Conservative Party, not only was Britain able to unpick hundreds of arbitrary rules and regulations holding us back, but we were able to avoid a litany of deeply damaging and destructive dictates from Brussels that would have held back our competitiveness, damaged business, and hurt the British public.
“But now, under Keir Starmer’s leadership, this Labour Government seems ready and willing to re-shackle us to this supranational bloc, consequences be damned.”
Britain’s red tape escape: The astonishing page count of EU laws which Britain has avoided since Brexit
GB NEWS
The Conservative MP added: “The Conservative Party will never let that come to pass without a fight.”
Former Conservative MP, Sir John Redwood said: “We have avoided thousands of extra laws, regulations and court decisions that would add to burdens on business. Best of all we are free to make our own laws and taxes.”
He added: “Bring on more use of our Brexit freedoms. Take a trade proposal to President Trump. Roll back VAT on small businesses and energy.
“Abolish more tariffs, grow more food at home and rebuild our fishing industry. There is so much more opportunity as an independent country.”
However, other MPs have expressed frustration over what they perceive as the Government’s failure to make the most of Brexit benefits since quitting the bloc.
Reform UK leader Nigel Farage said: “Many of those who voted for Brexit did so to get back in control of our borders and to reduce the sheer levels of immigration that have led to such a huge population explosion.
“On this front, it isn’t Brexit that’s failed, it’s the Conservative Government of 2019 that has failed, something, sadly, that the Labor Party will continue with.
“Similarly, millions of men and women running small businesses or working as sole traders around the country expected a sensible level of deregulation. What they have found is, in fact, in many cases, UK Government quangos have actually made their lives even more difficult.”
Britain’s red tape escape: The staggering number of EU laws which Britain has avoided since Brexit
GB NEWS
Liberal Democrat Europe spokesman, James McCleary MP, said: “We’ve seen the damage that the’ botched Brexit deal did to people’s pockets – and to our national security and trade capabilities.
“Tinkering around the edges of our current pact with Europe simply will not be enough.
“We need a new deal – one that delivers a new youth mobility scheme, so young people have the chance to live and work across Europe, and a bespoke UK-EU customs partnership that boosts British business.”
The Cabinet Office did not respond when approached for comment by GB News.
