Customers’ travel protection regulations have been put at risk due to new post-Brexit legislation introduced in the Lords, the Liberal Democrats claim.
They warn that the government’s new Retained EU Law Bill would remove hundreds of pieces of legislation from UK law.
Amongst the retained statutes from UK membership of the EU are the Package Travel Regulations 2018 and the EU 261/2004 covering flight delay and cancellation compensation.
The Liberal Democrats want ministers to confirm or deny whether they are planning to scrap the customer travel protections under the Bill which is currently going through the Lords.
Liberal Democrat peer Baroness Randerson has tabled two amendments to the Bill to ensure these regulations are immune from being revoked.
This means that ministers will be forced to treat these regulations separately, with a new debate about whether they should be retained later this month before the remainder of the Bill can be discussed – holding up proceedings to ensure that customers’ travel protections are retained.
It is part of a wider push by Labour and the Liberal Democrats behind an amendment that would allow the Commons and the Lords to debate every EU law singled out for deletion.
The Retained EU Law Bill focuses around 4,000 laws that came into force during the UK’s membership of the EU which ended on January 31, 2021.
If passed, the Bill would result in any EU law which ministers decide not to keep being automatically scrapped at the end of the year. However, a list of which laws would be abolished has not been published.
Amendments attempting to force a government rethink are due to be debated in the House of Lords today (Thursday).
Baroness Randerson said: “The Conservative government’s plan to scrap regulations that protect customers when they travel is a blatant act of disregard for the welfare of British people.
”This is short-sighted politics at its worst, putting political posturing above all else.
“Liberal Democrats are demanding that the government puts the needs of real people, especially those who have adverse travel experiences, before their ideological obsessions. Risking these regulations is reckless and irresponsible.”