UK to continue scrapping EU laws until end of 2023

The press secretary for British Prime Minister Liz Truss said Britain is still looking to ditch the laws it has when the country was still part of the European Union by the end of 2023. This follows Truss’s remarks at the annual Conservative Party conference.

Truss’s press secretary clarified her remarks at the annual Conservative Party conference Wednesday when pressed on the target date for the plan to scrap out all EU laws in the country.

In her remarks, Truss said, “by the end of the year, all EU-inspired red tape will be history,” and her press secretary clarified by saying that the plan would be in place until the end of 2023.

Truss’s remarks come as the UK, and the European Union are still at odds over the post–Brexit trade agreement concerning Northern Ireland. Irish foreign minister Simon Coveney said Wednesday that the “mood music” from the British government on the plans to resolve issues in the Northern Ireland Protocol has changed ahead of the upcoming talks between the UK and the bloc.

“Both sides have agreed to engage this week, this is a very welcome change of course that the British government is engaging now seriously as opposed to moving ahead with unilateral action,” Coveney told reporters, likely referring to the legislation being pushed in London to unilaterally scrap out some provisions in the agreement.

“It remains to be seen whether this new look British government is willing to make compromises to get a deal done but certainly the mood music has changed quite fundamentally, we welcome that and we will work on not only relationships to rebuild trust, but also work on solutions in a practical way,” added Coveney.

Coveney also said he would be meeting with British foreign minister James Cleverly in London ahead of the annual British-Irish intergovernmental conference that will take place on Friday.

Cleverly said Tuesday that there were good signs around the upcoming talks with the bloc to resolve the issues in the Northern Ireland Protocol. Cleverly said improving the tone around the upcoming discussions could mean that a deal would be made before the legislation would take effect.