Government sources assert that additional European bureaucracy will gradually be eliminated.

More European red tape will be cut in the long run, despite a promised ‘bonfire’ of EU laws this year looking unlikely, sources claimed last night.

Former cabinet minister Jacob Rees-Mogg had drawn up a list of 4,000 laws to be scrapped by the end of 2023 under the Retained EU Law Bill.

But Kemi Badenoch, the company secretary, admitted to Brexiteer MPs this week that only about 800 laws will actually be dumped by the deadline.

She told the European Research Group that the civil service had not done the necessary work and that most EU laws would instead be made into UK law.

Her comments provoked a furious backlash from Brexiteers, who said the news had gone down like a ‘lead balloon’, leaving many ‘appalled’.

An MP said the concession was necessary to ensure the bill became law before the next election, fearing it would be blocked in its current form by colleagues.

But last night a government source told the Mail that ministers would have time to reform or scrap any laws being rolled out.

The senior source said the bill would still end the supremacy of EU law in the UK, telling the Mail last night: ‘Kemi is a true Brexiteer, but she’s also the company secretary and laser-focused on delivery.

She wants to seize the opportunities of leaving the EU by making it easier for companies to succeed. What she’s up to will make that happen.” Ms Badenoch is said to have challenged MPs to say which EU laws they would scrap by the end of 2023.

“They said product safety standards and the emissions trading system,” a government insider told the Financial Times.

Mr Rees-Mogg said he was concerned there could be a ‘blob incentive’ to go slow.

“What worries me is that the civil service looks at the polls and thinks there might be another government in the not too distant future,” he told GB News.

“And it would be much easier to track and follow the EU if we haven’t thoroughly done the divergence by then, which is why there’s blob incentive to go slow.”

In January, the Prime Minister backed the Retained EU Law Bill, which will add a ‘sunset’ clause to the remaining legislation as a means to boost growth.

But Brexiteers are concerned that the proposed law, which has worried businesses and unions, will be delayed during parliamentary approval.

A government spokesman said ministers continue to support the bill and scrap “unnecessary” EU laws, but would not re-commit to completing the cull by the end of the year.

“We remain committed to ensuring that the withheld EU law law receives royal assent and that the supremacy of EU law ends, with unnecessary and burdensome EU laws removed by the end of this year,” the spokesperson said. in a statement.

“Once passed, the bill will enable the country to further exploit the opportunities presented by Brexit by ensuring that regulation is in line with the UK’s needs, helping to grow our economy and spur innovation.”