The ‘Trojan Horse Bill’ passes and Starmer moves closer back into Stalag Luft III

“Most boring-sounding Bill sabotages Brexit and is Trojan Horse back to EU membership,” says Jim Allister KC MP

Montage © Facts4EU.Org 2025

Yesterday’s Bill in Parliament won’t make the news but it puts us on a perilous, undemocratic path

Yesterday in Parliament a Bill passed which gives executive powers to ministers to avoid scrutiny and democratic votes by our elected representatives. Worse still, it involves an early move to re-align the UK with EU laws and regulations, on top of moves already being made on food (SPS), defence, and other matters.

When following a speech by Jeremy Corbyn it should not be difficult to sound interesting by comparison. Yesterday afternoon, however, a Commons debate took place on amendments to one of the most boring-sounding Bills ever conceived, which hardly any MPs attended and which - we’re sure - very, very few members of the public will have watched. Open your newspapers today and you are unlikely to find much mention of it.

With the assistance of Jim Allister KC MP and others, Facts4EU provides a digestible summary of the Bill and why it is so dangerous. Firstly, though, we set the scene.

The UK setting the standards others followed

Once upon a time, the United Kingdom set the world’s standards. It did so in many areas of life. Still highly-respected around the world, the UK’s standards remain high but there are now numerous international bodies that have been formed over the decades. Some function very well, others less and less so as time has gone by. In the latter category the United Nations and the European Court of Human Rights spring to mind.

This report, however, concerns just one of these areas where common, high standards matter: products – their clear measurements, specifications, labelling, and safety. We asked Jim Allister KC MP to explain it exclusively for the Facts4EU, GB News, and CIBUK readerships.

‘The Trojan Horse Bill’
– An explanation for the readers of Brexit Facts4EU, GB News, and CIBUK

- By Jim Allister KC MP, 04 June 2025

“Although it has a technical and rather boring sounding title - ‘the Product Regulation and Metrology Bill’ - this legislation has clearly been designed to act to a very significant degree as the Brexit Sabotage Bill.
“Its purpose is to give to the Government powers to make laws through secondary legislation, which is all unamendable and subject to virtually no scrutiny, to bring us back into line with the EU as if we were still a member.
“Rather than honouring the biggest democratic vote in the history of the United Kingdom, the Government with the smallest share of the vote in our history has provided, through this Bill, a legislative vehicle that actually undermines Brexit.

“Honouring the vote for Brexit would mean developing legislation that seeks to secure the opportunities that arise from our taking a different approach from the EU. Instead, this Bill provides an easy means for our re-aligning with the EU in many respects and – importantly – in ways that are beyond the reach of proper parliamentary scrutiny.
“We must now watch out for the secondary legislation that will inevitably be mandated through this Bill after it receives Royal Assent.”

Giving these powers to ministers who want to rejoin the EU

In all the excitement in the media about the landslide nature of Labour’s victory in the General Election last year, and the formation of Sir Keir Starmer’s Cabinet, we do not recall much talk of the anti-Brexit make-up of Starmer’s top team nor his Cabinet. Today we put that right with one of our famous ‘at-a-glance’ Brexit Facts4EU charts.

Brexit Facts4EU.Org Summary

The 100% anti-Brexit Starmer Cabinet

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The key clauses in the Bill

1 (2) “The Secretary of State may also by regulations make provision, in relation to the marketing or use of products in the United Kingdom, which corresponds, or is similar, to a provision of relevant EU law for the purpose of reducing or mitigating the environmental impact of products.”

2 (7) “Product regulations may provide that a product requirement is to be treated as met if—

(a) a requirement of relevant EU law specified in product regulations is met, or
(b) such a requirement is met and conditions specified in the regulations are also met.”

The big question is why is the UK government deferring to EU standards and not others?

Government’s excuses for the need for this Bill are full of more holes than Swiss cheese

Lord Frost first questioned the Government’s motives on this Bill in a Lords debate back on 26 February 2025. Below is an excerpt.

Lord Frost on the ‘Trojan Horse Bill’

- House of Lords, 26 Feb 2025

“What the purpose of the Bill cannot be is to reduce trade barriers - or it can be so only on one condition - because aligning with EU law does not reduce trade barriers. The EU itself is very clear about that; the process remains because it is a different legal system.
"The one condition on which that could be true would be if the UK and the EU reached an agreement that the aligned legislation under this Bill was to be considered as EU law and would be enforced by the Commission and the court—in other words, a Swiss-style arrangement. We have heard chat that that might be what the Government are aiming for in their reset.”

Below is a selection of quotes from MPs and Peers taken from Hansard

Andrew Griffith, Shadow Secretary of State, said the Bill was intended to facilitate dynamic alignment with the EU:

“It is, as I said, a Trojan horse Bill that will sabotage our Brexit freedoms and take us back to being an EU rule taker, which the British people had long put behind us.”

Jim Allister (TUV) also argued that the bill’s purpose was to align Great Britain with the EU single market on goods:

“If it were not so, we would not have clause 2(7). The standard that is set in that clause is the EU standard. If the Bill was just about creating the opportunity to make regulations because of a regulatory gap, it would not be tethered to the EU provisions on goods. It would be open ended, and we would be free to make the choice that best suited us.”

For the record, the Bill passed the Commons yesterday by 264 to 99, a majority of 165, largely along party lines.

Observations

As ever, our thanks got to a longstanding friend of Brexit Facts4EU, Jim Allister KC MP, Leader of the TUV party in Northern Ireland.

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[ Sources: Hansard | MPs and Peers' statements, websites, publicity material ] Politicians and journalists can contact us for details, as ever.

Brexit Facts4EU.Org, with additional work from our 'Lassies for Leave' contingent, Thur 05 June 2025

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Reader Comments 17

1. Old Albion , Thursday, June 05, 2025, 07:20:

No surprise is it. Our political class, with a few exceptions. Never supported Brexit. With the country voting 'leave' they totally failed to fully implement Brexit freedoms and began the process of sneaking us back in.
Now with the totally corrupt Starmer in charge they'll hurry up the process. Which will make everything more difficult for the next government to unravel again.
And it won't be the current vile anti-British, immigration loving, incompetent shower of tax thieves called Labour.

2. Sparky , Thursday, June 05, 2025, 08:45:

The Trojan Horse resulted in a victory for the Greeks allowing them to enter Troy.
.
The wooden horse depicted above refers to the Stalag Luft III, the WWII Prisoner of War camp where the Great Escape occurred. Before the tunnels of the Great Escape film there was a successful escape from the camp by hiding people inside a vaulting horse positioned near the fence. The hidden prisoners dug a tunnel for three month whilst the horse was being used for gymnastics. The tunnel resulted in the successful escape of three prisoners of war.
.
Being neighbours with the EU the UK will inevitably see product made to EU specification whether we like it or not, e.g. when you purchase a new mobile phone it does not come with a charger and all makes of mobile phones now have the same socket on the phone.
.
Legislation was passed in May 2024 that continues to recognise EU requirements for product recognition, ie the CE Mark. I haven't yet seen a UKCA mark on any product even though it remains an option to use.
.
I suspect Lord frost is correct in stating that we will have a Swiss Style arrangement which is probably the closest arrangement to what Brexit promised to be.

3. Ashley Great Britain , Thursday, June 05, 2025, 09:17:

2 sparky.
-
UKCA Mark on loads of items I have, even drinking glasses.
-
Harmonisation and agreed labeling and standards for inter trade is no problem.
That's not what this is!
This is yet another UK Government sell out to the EU under the guise of cooperation.
-
Follow EU rules.
-
Pay EU money.
-
Bound by EU law.
-
Reduced independence.
-
Restrict world trade.
-
Defence subservience.
-
EU owned UK waters.
-
Uncontrolled EU youth movement,( 35 years age hardly youth)
Exactly as starmer and the EU have long planned for and wanted.
Labour are acting terribly and contributing to the UK's decline. Nothing they are doing is helping the country. It's a classic demonstration of complete ineptitude.
It's so embarrassing having these untrustworthy people running the country.
They are doing real damage.

4. NH , Thursday, June 05, 2025, 09:17:

2. Sp.
I am sure you will find that new mobile phones use the USB-C which was developed and promoted by a group of USA companies. Accepting a global technology standard because it's the best solution is not the issue.
.
The Trojan Horse was used for a military victory, all Kier Starmer will achieve will be to harm the UK economy which will be the end of his political career and maybe the end of the Labour Party.

5. Old Albion , Thursday, June 05, 2025, 09:33:

'Sparky' I'm delighted to say the first half of your rambling post today is the winner of ' pedant post of the year' congratulations.

6. LuxuryBalloon , Thursday, June 05, 2025, 09:37:

Weird to have both Jim Allister and David Frost in one Facts4EU article … as Jim Allister called the Northern Ireland Protocol, negotiated by David Frost, ‘the biggest Brexit betrayal’.

7. KB , Thursday, June 05, 2025, 10:37:

What did we expect? The majority of Labour voters want to rejoin, so they will think this bill does not go far enough.
What I think is very unfortunate is how Brexit became associated with the "far right".
No-one seems to recall that in 1983, Labour stood on a platform of leaving the EU.
Nor that the left of the Labour Party campaigned for "No" in the first referendum.
The TUC were also dead against EEC membership until somehow they got converted.

8. LuxuryBalloon , Thursday, June 05, 2025, 11:09:

7 KB … I also think it is a shame that the ‘far right’ has hijacked Brexit as their project.

9. KB , Thursday, June 05, 2025, 11:33:

LB (8) On the other hand, it is often the Old Labour heartlands that voted Brexit most strongly.
However, the modern Labour Party now sees those supporters as an embarrassment more than anything.

10. Sparky , Thursday, June 05, 2025, 11:57:

As usual it’s Northern Ireland that will keep the UK linked to the EU.
.
50 years ago today since the UK’s first referendum on the EU!

17 comments, page 1 of 2

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