UK-EU Summit: Starmer Unveils Post-Brexit ‘Reset’ Without Consulting Citizens

Let’s recap what has happened today:

• Keir Starmer hosted European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and European Council President Antonio Costa in London where he signed a new deal with the EU that brings Britain back towards the bloc
• The Prime Minister was accused of ‘surrender’ by hardliners after it emerged it includes allowing EU fishing boats, mainly from France and the Netherlands, to trawl UK waters for a further 12 years
• The agreement will cut checks at the UK/EU borders for lorries carrying food and drink, which ministers hope will boost trade and cut prices in UK supermarkets for under-pressure families
• At the same time, British firms will be able to access a 150 billion euro (£125 billion) EU defence fund set up to allow the continent to rearm in the face of Russian threats (ER: no, don’t laugh!)
• And for British tourists visiting holiday hotspots such as Spain, France and Italy, the EU is to relax its rules on British travellers using e-gates, allowing faster progress through passport control for them and their pets (no comment)
• The Conservatives said Starmer had ‘betrayed Britain and Brexit’ following the deal which Downing Street said will boost the economy by £9 billion
• And former prime minister Boris Johnson derided Starmer as the ‘gimp of Brussels’ as he said the deal was an ‘appalling sell out’

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ER: The article above then links to this —

Fury at Starmer’s Brexit ‘surrender’ as Boris accuses him of being the EU’s ‘gimp’ after big concessions on fishing rights and youth mobility… and how much WILL it cost?

JAMES TAPSFIELD

Keir Starmer faced furious accusations of a Brexit ‘surrender’ today after he sealed a EU ‘reset’ deal despite alarm over huge concessions.

The Prime Minister declared ‘Britain is back on the world stage’ as he held a joint press conference with a beaming European Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen at a summit in London.

Sir Keir said the agreement was ‘common sense’ and a ‘win-win’ that would bring down food prices and revive exports.

However, critics said the premier had been ‘done up like a kipper’ amid concerns the UK will take Brussels rules and pay into its coffers in return for slightly smoother trade.

Boris Johnson derided the Labour leader as the EU’s ‘gimp’, while Kemi Badenoch suggested she would scrap the deal if the Tories return to power.

European fishing boats will be guaranteed access to UK waters on the current terms for 12 years, after France demanded longer guarantees than the four years Sir Keir originally offered. Ministers have announced a £360 million fund to help appease angry coastal communities.

Sir Keir has signed the UK up in principle to a ‘youth experience’ arrangement giving potentially millions of Europeans rights to live, study and work here. Sir Keir stressed it would be ‘capped and time limited’, arguing the Government’s crackdown on immigration will not be compromised.

In return, the deal would see checks on lorries taking food to the continent lifted permanently – ending the so-called ‘sausage wars’. That is supposed to boost the economy by £9billion by 2040.

However, the UK will have to accept ‘dynamic alignment’ with Brussels rules in the sector. The details also reveal that Britain will need to make ‘an appropriate financial contribution’ to the EU’s Sanitary and Phytosanitary (SPS) systems.

The same goes for moves to link the EU and UK carbon trading markets, with officials refusing to estimate how much will have to be paid in.

Defence firms will get access to a £126billion EU-wide weapons fund, although British taxpayers again face having to pay millions for the privilege.

British tourists could be spared queues when travelling to the continent, with permission to use e-gates at European airports and red tape on taking pets eased. But Sir Keir acknowledged that while a blanket ban is being lifted it will be down to individual EU countries to implement.

Many of the key issues have been fudged, involving broad commitments and details that will be finalised later in legal texts.

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Kemi Badenoch pointed out that 12 years of fishing rights was three times longer than the Government originally wanted. ‘We’re becoming a rule-taker from Brussels once again,’ she warned.

In a brutal retort, former PM Mr Johnson posted on X: ‘Two-tier Keir is the orange ball-chewing manacled gimp of Brussels.

‘He has sacrificed UK fishing interests, handing over our seas to be plundered again – when under the current Brexit agreement we are on the point of taking back full legal control, next year, of every fish in our waters.

‘He is clearly bent on signing up to a deal on free movement which could give 80 million younger EU nationals the right to come to this country.

‘He appears from this document to be preparing to allow the EU to regain control of UK policy on state aids and competition.

‘Most bizarrely of all he has agreed that Britain will once again be paying countless millions of pounds into EU coffers – for the privilege of becoming the non-voting punk of the EU Commission!

‘What have we got in return? Wishy washy EU promises to get rid of some of the vexatious and unnecessary bureaucracy that they have been using against British travellers and business – but no real guarantees that this will be enforced and above all no real guarantee on frictionless trade between GB and Northern Ireland, which should be entirely a matter for the UK and not the EU.’

Nigel Farage said it would be ‘the end of the fishing industry’.

Under the terms of Mr Johnson’s 2020 Brexit deal, the EU gave up 25 per cent of its fishing quotas – with the reduction phased to 2026. From next year there were due to be annual negotiations, which the UK fishing industry hoped would provide leverage to restore its hold.

However, quotas will now be frozen until at least 2038.

It has also emerged that Sir Keir is effectively binding the hands of future governments by amending the legal text of the Trade and Cooperation Agreement covering fisheries.

That means breaking the arrangements would entitle the EU to impose huge trade penalties.

The Government pointed to a 21 per cent drop in exports and 7 per cent drop in imports since Brexit.

It said the pact means UK firms will now be able to sell products such as burgers and sausages in the EU again.

The UK and EU Emissions Trading Systems will be linked, with officials saying that will avoid an £800 million charge that would have gone directly to the EU’s budget.

The Government claims the SPS and Emissions Trading Systems elements together will add £9billion to GDP by 2040.

Ministers say protections for British steel exports will save the struggling UK industry £25million a year.

CONTINUE READING HERE

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Published to UK Reloaded  from Europe Reloaded

Starmer Binds Future Governments to EU Fishing ‘Surrender’ Deal to ‘Reform-Proof’ It