Latest news with #LordFrost
Telegraph
22-05-2025
- Politics
- Telegraph
Lord Frost won't rule out running for Reform
Lord Frost has not ruled out running for Reform UK at a future general election. The former chief Brexit negotiator said he was 'not emotionally committed to the Conservatives' and that he struggled to see what the party's 'USP' (unique selling point) was. Speaking to The Telegraph's Planet Normal podcast, the Tory peer was asked whether he would rule out standing for Reform UK in the future. ' I'm waiting. What I want is a last chance really for a party on the Right that can deliver meaningful Right-wing, principled policies,' he said. 'I'm not emotionally committed to the Conservatives in the way that others are. I want the party that is going to do the job and get the job done, and let's see how that plays out.' The former Cabinet minister said the Tories 'still haven't really clocked what the problem is' with the party and its sinking popularity following the general election wipe-out last year. It comes after the Conservatives sank to their lowest ever poll rating recorded by YouGov, one of Britain's most reputable pollsters. The survey, carried out on May 18 and 19, found the Tories were now in fourth place and polling at just 16 per cent. The party lost every council it was defending at this month's local elections as Nigel Farage's Reform continued to surge. Lord Frost told the podcast: 'I think up until maybe these local [elections] and the latest round of polling, I think the dominant view was 'we just have got to wait, it'll come right, people will turn back to us, Labour are terrible, Reform will blow up, we don't really have to do anything, it'll all be OK'. 'I think the local elections and then these latest polls that put us fourth are beginning to spook people a bit – and rightly so, in my view.' Boris ally avoided candidacy Lord Frost, a Boris Johnson ally, decided not to run to become a Conservative MP at last year's general election. He had angered Downing Street at the beginning of last year when he was involved in commissioning an opinion poll that laid bare the likely impact of the Tories' unpopularity. The following month, he was understood to have been labelled as 'deferred' on the Conservative Party's approved candidates list, which meant he could not seek to run as an MP at that cycle and would have to wait for another time. But Rishi Sunak, the then-prime minister, said he was free to seek a seat – an offer he did not take up. Lord Frost told the podcast: 'The idea that Reform is a wasted vote is no longer true, to the same extent, probably won't be true at all soon. I must say, I struggle sometimes to see what you get when you vote Conservative. What's the USP? 'I'm not a lifer Conservative. I only came into it… because I want to get Brexit done. For me, the political parties on the Right are vehicles for getting the right policies in place, and as soon as they fail to get the right policies in place – well, they become a bit pointless.'
The Sun
19-05-2025
- Business
- The Sun
Fury as Brits face HIGHER energy bills under PM's EU surrender deal that limits UK's ability to change Net Zero rules
HOUSEHOLDS face higher energy bills under an EU deal that limits Britain's ability to change its Net Zero rules, experts warn. Sir Keir Starmer has agreed to hook the UK into the EU's carbon market as part of his wider Brexit reset. 2 The move ties British firms to Brussels' climate laws and rising pollution charges — making it harder for any future government to water down green targets without triggering trade penalties. Since coming to power last July, Labour has pushed a Net Zero policy crusade under Energy Secretary Ed Miliband. Carbon prices in the UK surged six per cent on the news, and it is feared they could climb further to match Europe's, where firms pay around €70 (£58) a tonne compared to just £51 in Britain. One energy insider said gas power stations — which usually set the UK's electricity price — will now face higher carbon costs, hitting every household and business regardless of if they export to the EU. Shadow Energy Secretary Andrew Bowie said the link up 'leaves the door wide open for higher energy bills and new taxes on transport'. Ex-Brexit negotiator Lord Frost also blasted the deal. He wrote on X: 'Want to weaken our Net Zero commitments? In future, only if the EU says so.' The Government says the move will help British exporters avoid new EU taxes due from 2026, which would hit goods like steel, fertiliser and cement made in countries with weaker climate rules. It also claims the link could save UK firms £770million between 2026 and 2030, by cutting trade red tape and smoothing out price shocks. A Department for Energy Security and Net Zero spokesman said: 'Forty-four different business organisations including the CBI, Make UK, and UK Steel all backed our approach last month as crucial to preventing businesses relocating overseas and reducing costs for both UK and EU consumers.'
The Sun
16-05-2025
- Business
- The Sun
Fury as UK could be opened up to 150MILLION new migrants under EU youth visa scheme in fresh Brexit surrender
EIGHTY million Europeans will qualify for a British visa if free movement for under-35s is not capped as fears mount over a fresh surrender to Brussels. The pool of potential migrants could surge to 150million if nine 'candidate countries' — including Albania and North Macedonia — are allowed to join the bloc. 7 7 Last night, PM Sir Keir Starmer again refused to say whether a quota would apply to the £3,500 youth mobility visas — despite warnings it would destroy his attempts to reduce net migration. His only comment when pressed by The Sun was that free movement for all would not return. He met with European leaders in Albania's capital Tirana ahead of a London summit with the EU Commission on Monday when he is set to sign a defence and security pact and soften food goods checks. EU countries, led by France, also want more access to UK fishing waters and alignment of EU rules — with Britain having no say on how they are set. But top of the list of concessions requested by Brussels is the visa scheme — with the French demanding the cost of any new youth visa should be slashed to around £1,000. As a bargaining chip, it is dangling extra support to stop small boats crossing the Channel. Talks ahead of what has been dubbed the 'surrender' summit are said to be on a knife edge amid concerns more taxpayers' cash could end up in EU coffers. Lord Frost, who was the UK's chief negotiator during Brexit talks under Boris Johnson, said it would be a 'sell-out' if no youth mobility visa cap was put in place. He said: 'The Government's been so dishonest about its approach that it's entirely possible this is expectation management — they have agreed a cap and just want to present it as a negotiating triumph. 'But a mobility deal without a cap would be a genuine sell out. 'There are about 80million Europeans in this age range. However tight the conditions, it would risk opening the floodgates. The Sun watches as hundreds of illegal migrants arrive at Dover 'Labour are planning to open the borders to tens of millions of young Europeans even though immigration is far too high already — and this just a few days after Starmer promised to clamp down on it.' He added: 'They're taking us back into the single market for agriculture and food. They are letting the EU push up our carbon price as part of the disastrous Net Zero policy. And they are abandoning our fishing grounds and fishermen just before we would have finally taken back full control again. 'Once again, the rules and the laws will be set in Brussels. EU officials will monitor them and EU courts will enforce them. 'Britain gets no say. Whatever we are getting back for this, the price is too high.' The talks come less than two weeks after the UK struck trade deals with India and the US. Sir Keir will insist that any pact with the EU will drive growth and boosting living standards. He spoke with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen yesterday. No10 has refused to rule out sending cash to bolster the EU as part of the reset and negotiators insist that they will only sign a deal in the 'national interest'. Any draft agreement may not be finalised until tomorrow but a security and defence partnership will be the showpiece. It could give UK firms access to a £125billion military fund the EU is setting up. Critics fear that the UK will be put under pressure as France is understood to want to tie this in some way to fishing rights access. Brussels also wants cheaper university fees for students coming here in exchange for help with the huge numbers of migrants crossing the Channel. If concessions are granted here, more help from the bloc on migrants and data-sharing could be forthcoming. The Prime Minister thinks he'll get away with this surrender deal but he under- estimates how strong Brexit feeling still is in the Red Wall Farage Any sell-out is predicted to go down badly in constituencies where Reform UK is hot on Labour's heels. Reform leader Nigel Farage said last night: 'The Prime Minister thinks he'll get away with this surrender deal but he under- estimates how strong Brexit feeling still is in the Red Wall. The whole 'reset' is an abject surrender from Starmer and politically something he will come to regret.' Sir Keir said last night that the UK would not 'turn inward' amid global uncertainty. He said: 'In a new era for trade and the economy, we will increase our resilience, strengthen our alliances and reduce barriers to trade with our allies around the world and Europe. 'In this time of great uncertainty and volatility, the UK will not respond by turning inwards, but by taking its place on the world stage, strengthening alliances, supporting freedom and peace in Europe.' He added that it was vital to do more on immigration, a challenge that 'crosses our borders'. BOSS BABY KEIR & CO By RYAN SABEY A BABY AI version of Sir Keir Starmer gives a double wave at the European Political Community summit's opening ceremony. The PM was among the leaders in Tirana to have a tot version of themselves generated — with each one saying 'Welcome to Albania' in their own language. 7 7 7 7 French President Emmanuel Macron, European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen and Albania's PM Edi Rama were among others returned to their infant times.
Telegraph
13-05-2025
- Business
- Telegraph
Starmer to cave in on British fishing rights to agree EU deal
Sir Keir Starmer is preparing to cave in to the European Union and agree a deal which guarantees European fishing boats access to British waters for four years. In a significant concession ahead of a UK-EU summit, the Prime Minister hopes the compromise will break the deadlock with Brussels as he tries to secure his much-vaunted Brexit reset. Lord Frost, the former Brexit negotiator has described the move as 'a shameful surrender of fishing communities' rights'. A deal over fishing rights at his meeting with Ursula von der Leyen, president of the European Commission and Antonio Costa, president of the European Council, in London next week would allow British arms manufacturers to sell billions of pounds of weapons to cross-channel allies. It would also cut red tape on food and drink exports to the bloc as Sir Keir attempts to ease trade barriers with Brussels. European member states have long demanded that Britain surrenders fishing rights in a multiple-year deal as the price for any improvements to past Brexit deals. France has been insisting that the rest of the Brexit deal is contingent on Sir Keir signing over long-term access to British waters. Wider negotiations have become bogged down over access to the UK's coastal waters in the last-minute dash to finalise a deal ahead of the summit on Monday. EU capitals had been pushing to secure fishing rights for 'as long as possible', a diplomatic source told The Telegraph. A second source said a landing zone had emerged that would grant European vessels access to British waters for at least four years. British officials did not dispute the claims being made in Brussels. 'No final agreement has been made. We are not providing a running commentary on our discussions with the EU, these are ongoing and cover a wide range of issues,' a government spokesman said. 'We have been clear that we will always act in the national interest to secure the best outcomes for the UK.' Mike Cohen, chief executive of the National Federation of Fishermen's Organisations, said: 'Clearly the EU values fishing highly enough to negotiate hard for it, and clearly the UK does not feel the same.' Sources in Brussels acknowledged that there would be difficulties over fishing rights, an issue which is considered totemic for Brexiteers. Signed off by PM 'We all expected the fish thing to become contentious right around now, as we near the end phase,' an EU diplomat said. 'Four years doesn't seem to be in the realm of the impossible.' Sources in Brussels expect that the fishing concessions will have to be personally signed off by Sir Keir given the political nature of the issue. The Labour Government had hoped to negotiate fishing quotas on an annual basis when it opened talks with Brussels over the Brexit reset. But EU negotiators soon dug in hard to secure long-term access, with some suggesting that a decade-long deal would provide sufficient stability to European coastal communities. The long-term deal could also hamper any future UK effort to help the country's smaller near-shore fishing boats, or rest overfished areas, Mr Cohen said. 'Having the ability to do a deal on an annual basis actually gives us something to bargain with,' the head of the fishing trade association added. 'We would be giving away our ability to gain anything in the future.' In the post-Brexit EU-UK Trade and Cooperation Agreement (TCA) concluded by Boris Johnson at the end of 2020, European fishermen were guaranteed access to British waters for six years, until June 2026. After that, the EU would have had to hold annual negotiations to maintain that level of access. Lord Frost, the former Brexit negotiator behind the TCA, said: 'Boris and I had to agree a longer transition than we really wanted on fisheries. But next year it ends and we get full control of our fishing grounds and the right to set quotas. 'It sounds as if Labour are about to give this away for nothing in return. It's a shameful surrender of fishing communities' rights.' The current offer would see those fishing quotas, which reduced the amount European fishermen could catch in British waters down to 75 per cent of pre-Brexit levels, remain for a further four years. Under the current deal on offer from Brussels, an animal health deal, known as sanitary and phytosanitary (SPS), would be time-limited in line with the fisheries agreement. A potential youth mobility deal making it easier for young Europeans to work and study in Britain remains on the table. At the summit on May 19, the UK and EU are expected to conclude three agreements. A 'Common Understanding' document will provide a roadmap on how to resolve the outstanding issues surrounding fisheries, energy trading and migration. A second statement will provide a 'geopolitical preamble' to show both the UK and Brussels are aligned on issues like support for Ukraine. Finally, a new security and defence partnership will be agreed, which the Telegraph last week reported could see British troops join EU-led military deployments.
Yahoo
22-02-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Supermarkets 'still facing sea border problems'
Major supermarkets are still experiencing "sustained practical difficulties" with the Windsor Framework, MPs have been told. The NI Retail Consortium (NIRC), which represents the retailers, made the comment in its submission to an inquiry being held by the NI Affairs Committee. The framework is Northern Ireland's post-Brexit deal which covers trade and human rights. It is an amended version of Northern Ireland's original Brexit deal, the protocol. The protocol created a trade border between Great Britain and Northern Ireland as the way to prevent a hard border between Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland. That meant a major headache for supermarkets as their Northern Ireland stores are largely supplied from GB distribution centres. The framework's major difference from the protocol is that it permits food products being sold in Northern Ireland to be made to UK standards, rather than EU standards. It also created the NI Retail Movement Scheme (NIRMS), a trusted trader scheme allowing food products to move from GB to Northern Ireland with minimal paperwork and few routine checks. However the NIRC said: "The simple system for operating NIRMS has become more complicated over the years of its use." It added that during 2024 the percentage of vehicles being physically checked had increased leading to "additional delays and, occasionally, the rejection of lorries impacting on retail operations". It said the IT system for validating paperwork had deteriorated in recent months and now takes at least 30 minutes to process each submission which has "generated inefficiencies within supply chains". The NIRC has also questioned whether the next major phase of the framework can be implemented on its planned timetable. New processes for parcels being sent from businesses in GB are due to come into effect at the end of March. Parcel carriers will have to be signed up to a trusted trader scheme and business-to-business parcels will face customs processes for the first time. The NIRC said it was concerned that "parcel carriers including Royal Mail, may not be geared up for the introduction of the new requirements". It added that it was worried about "the level of disruption that may occur if the deadline of 31 March 2025 is kept in place". A government spokesperson said: "The government is committed to the full and faithful implementation of the Windsor Framework as the only credible and sustainable solution for Northern Ireland, ensuring smooth trade and the avoidance of a hard border." It is understood the government will shortly set out more guidance on the changes coming in March. Meanwhile the Times newspaper has suggested the government would be prepared to strike a new deal with the EU which would involve the UK following EU rules on food and agriculture. That sort of deal would radically reduce the checks and controls required on goods moving from GB to NI but would be controversial. Conservative peer and former Brexit negotiator Lord Frost said such a move would amount to "selling out this country's self-government to a foreign court". The government has not commented on the story. It has previously set out ambitions for an agrifood deal which could reduce trade frictions and support the smooth movement of goods between GB and NI. Warning of fewer food choices in NI supermarkets UK supermarkets call for Windsor Framework clarity
