Leaders hail Britain’s reset with Europe

Prime Minister Keir Starmer says UK is back on the world stage after first major deal since Brexit while critics label it a ‘total sell-out’ and ‘horror show’.

Sir Keir Starmer has heralded a “new era” in relations with Europe and said that following rules from Brussels will lead to cheaper food and energy.

The prime minister said his Brexit reset would boost the economy by £9bn ($18.6bn) a year after he negotiated an end to checks on British food exports to the continent and linked British and European electricity markets. He said the deal was a “win-win”.

But Starmer was accused of a “surrender” to Brussels by accepting last-minute French demands that would give EU fishing fleets access to UK waters until 2038.

Britain's Prime Minister Keir Starmer leaves the UK-EU Summit at Lancaster House Picture: AP

Kemi Badenoch, the Conservative leader, described the agreement as a “total sell-out” while Nigel Farage, the Reform UK leader, said it would result in the “end of the fishing industry”.

The majority of business organisations welcomed the deal. The Federation of Small Businesses hailed “genuine progress”, while the CBI praised the government for “providing businesses with a shot of confidence”.

Under the deal the EU said it would scrap checks on food and agricultural produce crossing the Channel in return for Britain following its agricultural rules and implementing new Brussels directives.

There will also be a security partnership under which British defence companies will be able to compete for €150bn ($261bn) in EU-funded defence projects, in return for payments to the Brussels budget.

The two sides also agreed, in principle, to establish a youth mobility scheme to allow young Britons and Europeans to live, work and study across the Continent. However, there was no agreement on how many young people can take part, a figure that will be subject to a further negotiation.

Mr Starmer with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen at the summit Picture: AFP

Ministers said the deal would remove the obstacles to Britons using European e-gates for passports when entering the EU – but this will be subject to approval by individual states.

At a joint news conference after a summit in London, Starmer hailed the deal as a victory for both sides.

“It delivers what the British public voted for last year. It gives us unprecedented access to the EU market while sticking to the red lines about not rejoining the single market, the customs union and no return to freedom [of movement],” he said. “Britain is back on the world stage, working with our partners, doing deals that will grow our economy and putting more money in the pockets of working people.”

Ursula von der Leyen, the European Commission president, was effusive. “We are turning a page. We are opening a new chapter in our unique relationship,” she said.

Despite the rhetoric some of the most difficult problems have been pushed back, including the shape of a “youth mobility deal – rebranded a “youth experience scheme”. Britain is adamant this will be capped and is likely to seek a limit of 100,000 or fewer to ensure it is compatible with pledges to cut migration. Yet the EU has said only that the scheme will “ensure that the overall number of participants is acceptable to both sides”, suggesting any agreement will involve painful compromises.

Conservative Party leader Kemi Badenoch has labelled the deal as a ‘total seel-out’ Picture: Getty Images

The deal also leaves some hard questions unanswered, including how much Britain must pay to access the EU defence fund and how much it will have to contribute to align to the EU food standards and energy trading system.

Downing Street was also unable to say how soon any of the deals would come into force but insisted both sides were keen to make rapid progress.

The Scottish Fishermen’s Federation branded the UK-EU deal a “horror show” for the sector. “It is clear that Sir Keir Starmer made the whole deal on the backs of our fishermen and coastal communities,” Elspeth Macdonald, its chief executive, said.

Boris Johnson, the former prime minister who signed the original trade deal with the EU in 2020, also criticised the agreement, saying it had turned the UK into “non-voting members of a two-tier European Union”.

Badenoch said the deal was “an amateur negotiation from the start”.

The Times