Kemi Badenoch calls for reduction in 'public law burden'

In one of her first public statements since her election this month as Conservative leader, Kemi Badenoch MP has attacked the 'burden of public law' which she said moves power from politicians to 'well-organised interest groups'.

In an op-ed article for yesterday’s Sunday Times headed 'We must stop rewarding ministers for managerialism', Badenosh said: 'A lot of these public law and procedural requirements sound good and necessary. In practice, the bureaucracy they generate is not conducive to transparent and well thought-out policy making, and has the opposite effect.'

She continued: 'If we want our government to make decisions more quickly, and be more effective, we need to reduce some of the public law burden. If we choose not to do so, we must accept that this will have consequences. Every time we create more law to hold government to account, it is slower to deliver for people, and moves power from elected politicians to the courts and the well-organised interest groups that bring strategic litigation — as well as those who are self-interested and just plain bizarre.’

Referring to hear appearance at the Post Office Inquiry last week, the former business minister said: 'This is not an attack on the rule of law, as the counsel for the inquiry seemed to suggest. The rule of law does not mean having ever more laws to rule us, and nor does it mean that we cannot challenge and criticise the laws that govern us.'

She concluded: 'The way we govern no longer works. It rewards managerialism among ministers, as reliably steering a department clear of legal challenges becomes more important than enacting policies that deliver prosperity or security for the British people.'