Queen unveils red tape move.

The government used last week’s Queen’s speech to unveil its Regulatory Reform Bill which it hopes will go some way to placating a business community unhappy at the burden of red tape.

The Queen said the Bill would have the effect of ‘removing inappropriate and over-complex regulation’ and ensure that future legislation will impose as few regulations on business as possible.

According to the speech, the Bill will make it easier to end or repeal obsolete or unnecessarily bureaucratic legislation through ministerial orders, compared with the prevailing long-winded process of primary legislation.

Prime minister Tony Blair said his government was committed to cutting red tape and attracting new business to the UK. Reaction to the Bill suggested that business was in general satisfied with what has been proposed, but with reservations.

Digby Jones, the director-general of the Confederation of British Industry, described the Bill as ‘an important shift in the right direction’ but criticised existing legislation, which he said did not go far enough or give business ‘sufficient breathing space’.