Commenting on the White Paper on the Great Repeal Bill, which confirms that the protections in the Equality Acts 2006 and 2010 will continue to apply once Britain leaves the EU and that ministers won’t be given so called 'Henry VIII' powers to make substantive changes to primary legislation, Equality and Human Rights Commission Chair David Isaac said:
It is important the government sends a message that this will be a fair Brexit. We welcome the commitment to retaining the protections in the Equality Acts 2006 and 2010. We are pleased that ministers won’t be given powers to change laws that protect our day-to-day rights, such as maternity rights and data protection, without Parliament fulfilling its constitutional right to debate changes. We will scrutinise the terms of the Great Repeal Bill carefully to ensure that this intention is reflected in practice.
The government should use this golden opportunity to strengthen our own laws as we leave EU laws behind, including by introducing a constitutional right to equality that will make post-Brexit Britain fairer and more united.
