Britain could slash environmental and safety regulations on imported products after it leaves the European Union (EU), a Conservative MP has suggested. Jacob Rees-Mogg, floating the idea at a hearing of the Treasury Select Committee – Rees-Mogg is a member of the influential committee – said regulations that were “good enough for India” could be good enough for the UK – arguing that the UK could go “a very long way” to rolling back high EU standards.

The MP’s comments came in the context of a discussion about trade deals with other countries following Brexit.

The Government has said all EU regulations will be enshrined into British law by a Great Repeal Bill. Changes can then be made on a case-by-case basis after Brexit.

Jonathan Portes, a research fellow of the National Institute for Economic and Social Research, said the approach flagged by Rees-Mogg could cause “complications”. He added: “If we simply said we would not impose any regulatory constraints on any goods coming to this country I think the risk of negative spill-over that would reduce productivity as well as many other things that we care about would be very high.” Safety and trade bodies have warned repeatedly about imports of dangerous equipment, notably substandard or counterfeit workplace protective equipment, building materials and plant and equipment