Tories issues Brexit warning over Prime Minister’s Brexit reset deal.
Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer (Image: Getty)
Sir Keir Starmer stands accused of “selling out” taxpayers by plotting to shackle Britain to the EU with deals that will cost billions to escape. Senior Tories said the PM is planning to return our sovereignty to Brussels while committing a future government to the punishing bill if it decided to pull the UK out again.
The warning comes as the Prime Minister continues cosying up to the bloc by signing Britain up to European schemes as part of his “Brexit reset”. Shadow Foreign Secretary Dame Priti Patel said: “Keir Starmer, the arch-Remoaner, still hasn’t gotten over Brexit. That’s why he is cooking up a Brexit Reset Bill to take us closer to the EU and hand over our sovereignty to Brussels.
“This golden handcuff could end up costing us billions. Once again Labour are selling out British taxpayers, just as they have done with their shameful £35billion Chagos Surrender Bill. Rather than producing this pathetic display, Starmer should show some backbone and confront the real issues facing this country. Only the Conservatives will get welfare spending down, cut taxes and deliver a stronger economy, stronger borders and a stronger country.”
The Treasury has estimated Britain will pay the EU around £49billion for Brexit – with money still heading across the Channel into the 2060s – although we will get some back.
EU minister Nick Thomas-Symonds has refused to rule out “termination clauses” in any new deals with the bloc but insisted this was standard practice.
He said: “The details of any agreements, including specific clauses, are subject to ongoing negotiations with the EU.
“We will not provide a running commentary on the progress of those negotiations, although I would note termination provisions are routine in international agreements.”
Mr Thomas-Symonds was responding to a question from Shadow Cabinet Office Minister Mike Wood, who said: “Keir Starmer is secretly plotting to lock our country into his new deal with the EU. By agreeing to ‘poison pill’ payment terms, he will try to make it as difficult as possible to reverse the damage he does.
“That means more red tape, more power for unaccountable foreign bureaucrats and more disdain for the will of the British public. It’s the same old Labour Party.”
Shadow Foreign Secretary Dame Priti Patel (Image: Getty)
But a Labour source branded the claims by the Tories “bogus”, saying: “They let the welfare bill spiral, they crashed the economy and took inflation to 11% and Priti Patel was the Home Secretary who introduced the open borders experiment. They are unable to come to terms with their own record.
“They cannot come to terms with the fact their Brexit deal sold out British businesses. We’re delivering a new deal that will do away with red tape, make trade easier and benefit British billpayers and consumers alike.
“They want to rip that up because they cannot bring themselves to have any relationship with Europe at all.”
It comes after reports the EU was demanding a so-called “Farage clause” as part of an agricultural deal between Britain and Brussels amid fears a future government could renege on the pact.
But Reform UK leader Nigel Farage last week vowed he would not honour such payments.
He said: “Even if they put in Farage clauses and all the nonsense they’re talking about, we will reverse it.”
EU minister Nick Thomas-Symonds (Image: Getty)
Sir Keir is pushing for stronger ties with the bloc, leading to accusations Labour is rowing back on Brexit.
In a speech in Germany at the weekend, he called for Britain to move closer to the single market.
The PM said: “We are already aligned with the single market in some areas to drive down the prices of food and energy.
“We are trusted partners. Deeper economic integration is in all of our interests. So we must look at where we can move closer to the single market in other sectors as well where that would work for both sides.”
The Government has lined up a youth mobility scheme with the EU, which is expected to be finalised later this year.
And British students will once again be able to study abroad under the Erasmus scheme at a cost of £570million in 2027/28.
The Express is calling for the UK to make full use of our EU exit with our “Give Us a Proper Brexit” crusade in readiness for the 10th anniversary of the 2016 referendum.
We want Britain to leave the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR), red tape for businesses to be slashed and a 12-mile exclusion zone around the UK solely for British fishing vessels.
