Question to the Department for Exiting the European Union :

To ask the Secretary of State for Exiting the European Union, pursuant to the Answer of 20 July 2017 to Question 5540, whether he plans for there to be a free-standing right to equal treatment in UK law once the UK has left the EU.

The Charter of Fundamental Rights simply reaffirms rights which already exist in EU law, including the principle that everyone is equal before the law. As EU law and Court of Justice EU case law will be preserved as provided for in the EU (Withdrawal) Bill: it is the Government’s intention that the removal of the Charter from UK law will not affect the substantive rights that individuals already benefit from in the UK, as the Charter was never in itself the source of those rights.

The protections covered in domestic equality legislation, such as the Equality Act 2006, the Equality Act 2010 and equivalent legislation in Northern Ireland, will continue to apply once the UK has left the European Union.