Burnham Brexit betrayal would force Britain under 115,000 EU laws

Britain would have to swallow 115,707 active EU legal instruments overnight if it rejoined the bloc the way Andy Burnham wants, according to an exclusive Brexit Facts4EU think-tank report shared with GB News.

Those who believe the UK should remain independent say British laws should be decided by our duly elected MPs in Westminster. The reality of direct EU jurisdiction is far harsher. The think-tank, helped by Stand for Our Sovereignty and The Campaign for an Independent Britain, went straight to the official EUR-Lex database and counted the full acquis.

An astonishing 211,000 legal instruments have been created since the EU started. Of those, 115,000 remain live and would bind any rejoining country. Thanks to Brexit the UK has already dodged more than 21,000 new ones since 2020. October alone brought 105 formal infringement decisions by the EU Commission against member countries, on top of more than 2,000 active legal disputes still pending across the bloc.

The operational load is not optional. Every member state must monitor and obey the entire body of active instruments plus evolving EU case law or face prosecution. Primary statutes and daily administrative decrees together create a regulatory mountain that dwarfs anything Westminster produces on its own.

The entry price Burnham would make Britain pay

For anyone pushing a return, the price is all-or-nothing absorption of the acquis communautaire. Facts4EU measured the functional corpus now in force at 115,707 active instruments. That is the day-to-day legal reality a joining country must instantly accept and keep pace with.

Lord Redwood told the outlet: “Facts4EU excel themselves by reminding us of the EU elephant in the room: the vast body of EU law that dictates to member states regardless of their wishes and needs. They reveal the massive scope of the EU’s power grab. They remind us we have escaped thousands of new laws and Court judgements since we left. It reminds me of how powerless the UK was when we were members to stop the torrent of legislation. As Single Market Minister all I could do was delay or dilute the worst of it. Only the Commission could write the laws.”

Unelected officials hold the monopoly. Under the EU treaties the Commission alone has the right of initiative. The European Parliament and national parliaments can only amend or vote on what is put in front of them. EU court judgements cannot be disobeyed. That is the system Andy Burnham’s path would restore.

Britain runs itself best when its own elected MPs write the rules and face the voters for the results. Handing that power back to Brussels bureaucrats and judges would reverse the clean break voters chose and load firms and families with costs they never asked for. The sluggish EU economy already shows what too many remote laws deliver.

Legacy chains still not fully cut

Even after leaving, ten active EU infringement cases still hang over the UK, mostly about citizens’ rights and Irish Sea checks left by the Withdrawal Agreement and Northern Ireland Protocol. Brussels keeps the power to haul Britain before its courts until those tails are settled. The transition period itself proved the point: formal exit in January 2020 still left EU law fully in force until 11pm on 31 December 2020, when the European Communities Act 1972 was finally repealed.

Lord Redwood noted the wider damage: the EU’s own Mr Draghi reported the devastating impact on growth from excess law. Facts4EU simply counted the costly rules holding European economies back while America pulled ahead. Britain has already escaped thousands of them. Rejoining would put the straitjacket straight back on.

Original source: GB News