THE government is planning to bring forward a “Brexit freedoms” Bill to make it easier to amend European Union laws.

It is as part of a drive that the government claims will “cut £1 billion of red tape” for British businesses.

The Bill will affect the handling of retained EU law: regulations that were preserved in Britain’s statute after the Brexit transition period ended in 2020.

The government has previously made clear that it intends to eventually amend, replace or repeal all of the retained law that it deems “not right for the UK.”

Under current rules, changing or scrapping regulations in the pipeline of outdated legislation would take “several years” because of a long-winded alteration process, Downing Street said.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson said that Britain will not diverge from the EU rulebook “for the sake of it.”

However, the TUC has warned the government must not rip up protections for workers when it does away with EU laws carried over post-Brexit.“If ministers follow through on the review into EU retained law and rip up hard-won rights, there is a serious risk the EU-UK deal would be breached — leading to significant penalties,” said TUC general secretary Frances O’Grady.

Shadow attorney general Emily Thornberry said: “For all this talk from the government about the potential legislative freedom we have outside the EU, they still refuse to make a concrete change the Labour Party has been demanding in this area for months, which is the removal of VAT on people’s energy bills.”