Peers warn UK-EU deal will flood parliament with EU law to scrutinise

The House of Lords European Affairs Committee says the agreements being sealed before next week's UK-EU summit will push Britain into dynamic alignment — matching laws to the bloc's evolving rulebook. Chairman Jock Stirrup called it a major change to the relationship as it exists under the Trade and Cooperation Agreement. As the UK aligns with more EU law, he said, parliament will face growing pressure to scrutinise significant volumes of EU legislation. The peers want a robust, consistent and adequately resourced cross-departmental system to handle it.

The numbers are already hefty. The committee heard that the food and farming deal alone could generate at least 780 pieces of in-scope EU law every year.

Prime minister Andy Burnham heads to Brussels next week to meet EU leaders and sign agreements he says could raise GDP by 0.4%. The package includes a sanitary and phytosanitary deal on food and farming, one on emissions trading, and a youth mobility scheme. A health security agreement is also in the mix, aimed at easing post-Brexit shortages of drugs including antibiotics and ADHD medication, according to a draft text seen by the i newspaper. Experts in post-Brexit health policy reportedly called it significant and a good first step.

Speaking at the European Political Community summit in Dublin ahead of the Brussels trip, Burnham said there is a good deal to be done that could be a win-win for Britain and Europe, and framed it as more like the Brexit that people thought they were voting for in 2016. He added a caveat: the deal is not done, and there will be some long nights ahead in the next seven days.

Elsewhere in Westminster, Alan Milburn's review will recommend that some young people with disabilities lose their personal independence payments and apply instead to a local fund for short-term expenses and equipment. Sadiq Khan became the most high-profile Labour figure to wade into the fractious row over the government's electric vehicle targets.

The Guardian also learned that Nigel Farage appeared on Russell Brand's US podcast nine months after the comedian was investigated by police over sexual assault allegations. And the government named the world's first special representative for climate security — its strongest signal yet of fears that climate breakdown will bring chaos to the country.