UK prime minister Keir Starmer set to announce new EU deal at London summit
British prime minister Keir Starmer is set to agree a deal next week to strengthen the country's post-Brexit partnership with the European Union and to facilitate trade in some food products.
Details of the agreement are yet to be revealed but reports have suggested it could focus on UK access to a major EU defence fund, with a youth mobility scheme also said to be on the table.
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Ahead of Monday's summit, Mr Starmer said the meeting would be 'another step forwards, with yet more benefits for the United Kingdom' and 'a strengthened partnership with the European Union'.
He said: 'It will be good for our jobs, good for our bills and good for our borders.
'That's what the British people voted for last year, and it's what my government will deliver.'
Monday's meeting will bring Mr Starmer together with European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen for the second time in four days, after the two met for 30 minutes on the margins of the European Political Community Summit in Albania on Friday.
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British opposition figures have already spoken out against Mr Starmer's deal with the EU, with both Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch and Reform UK's Nigel Farage claiming the agreement – which has not yet been announced – is a 'surrender' and vowing to rip it up.
Mrs Badenoch said Mr Starmer should have focused on 'new wins for Britain', including allowing UK citizens to use e-gates at European airports.
She added: 'Instead, it sounds like we're giving away our fishing quotas, becoming a rule-taker from Brussels once again and getting free movement by the back door.'
Kemi Badenoch has already described the deal with the EU as a 'surrender'. Photo: Jacob King/PA
Meanwhile, others have pushed the British government to go further, with the Liberal Democrats urging a closer relationship with the EU.
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The party claimed a new trade deal that included 'deep alignment' with the bloc on goods and services would provide enough economic growth to reverse cuts to welfare and the winter fuel payment.
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British MPs on the cross-party Commons Foreign Affairs Committee also pushed the UK government to be 'bolder' and back a youth mobility scheme, similar to those the UK operates with countries including Australia and Canada.
Mr Starmer on Friday raised the prospect that a youth mobility deal with the EU would be struck at the summit.
Brexit has grown increasingly unpopular with the British electorate, opinion polls suggest, with the economy faring poorly in recent years and international trade a particular weak spot.
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