Latest news with #SurrenderSummit
Daily Mail
19-05-2025
- Politics
- Daily Mail
Brexit is dead. Now a senior minister reveals truth to me about Starmer's Surrender Summit - and why Europeans have acted like 'f****** b*******': DAN HODGES
'It's time to look forward – to move on from the stale old political fights and to find common sense, practical solutions that improve the lives of British people,' Keir Starmer declared as he announced the successful completion of his EU 'Surrender Summit'. To his credit, he managed to refrain from the saying what he privately wanted to say. ' Brexit is dead.'
Daily Mail
19-05-2025
- Politics
- Daily Mail
UK-EU summit live updates: Starmer expected to sign 'surrender' agreement after fishing row nearly wrecks deal at 11th hour
Keir Starmer is expected to announce a new deal between the UK and the European Union as leaders meet for a summit in London today. The Prime Minister is set to sign an agreement intended to 'reset' relations following Brexit covering various topics including defence, trade, fishing, and a possible youth mobility scheme. According to sources, there where 'stumbling blocks' late last night concerning fishing rights before an apparent breakthrough in talks ahead of what has been dubbed Starmer's 'Surrender Summit'.
Daily Mail
18-05-2025
- Politics
- Daily Mail
Sir Keir Starmer warned he risks Brexit vote betrayal if he agrees new deal to put the UK back under EU control in new 'Surrender Summit'
Keir Starmer was last night warned he would betray Brexit if he agreed a deal that put the UK back under the control of the EU. The Prime Minister is today set to sign an agreement at what has been dubbed his 'Surrender Summit' that will mean Britain must once more follow EU laws and abide by its judges' rulings. He is also poised to hand millions of young Europeans the right to live, study and work here for up to three years, risking his pledge to cut migration. And the PM – who backed Remain then campaigned for a second referendum to undo the Leave vote – is expected to 'sell out' Britain's fishermen by allowing French boats continued access to UK coastal waters. Talks were going down to the wire last night after the EU made surprise 11th-hour demands for the fishing rights to last a decade or more. In return, checks on lorries taking food to the continent would be lifted. Defence firms will gain access to a £126 billion EU-wide weapons fund – but British taxpayers face having to pay millions for the privilege. As the wrangling continued over the 'reset' deal to be unveiled at London 's Lancaster House, the PM was urged not to give in to the EU's demands or give up the Brexit freedoms that 17.4 million voted for. Shadow Foreign Secretary Dame Priti Patel told the Mail: 'Labour's great Brexit betrayal consists of them backsliding on our freedoms and hard-won sovereignty. Britain needs Starmer to hold strong against the EU's brinkmanship, grow a spine and for once, put our national interest first and not concede to the demands of Brussels.' Writing in this newspaper, Shadow Chancellor Mel Stride said the expected agreement to abide by EU food standards 'would be a betrayal of the Brexit vote, pure and simple'. The Tories also urged Sir Keir not to cave in to French demands for long-term access to UK waters for European trawlers, and keep an exclusive access to a zone around the coast for British fishermen. Shadow environment secretary Victoria Atkins said: 'We are deeply concerned by the reports that Labour looks to surrender our fishing rights to the EU at their summit, and that is why we are today setting out our red lines for any deal. 'The Conservatives have always stood up for our coastal communities, and our fishing industries. Labour must not throw our fishing rights overboard in their desperation to bail out their failing fiscal policies.' Reform leader Nigel Farage told the Mail: 'Opening up our borders to millions of people in the EU after Starmer's speech last Monday will make Red Wall voters doubt Labour even more. It's clear Labour can't be trusted to secure our borders. The idea of British soldiers under an EU flag will be hated in the Red Wall too. This is a surrender deal by Starmer.' Sir Keir even faced a backlash from his own MPs who fear voters in the Red Wall will be angered by the expected plan to set up a youth mobility scheme. Jo White, MP for Bassetlaw and head of the Red Wall group of Labour MPs, told The Daily Telegraph: 'We tighten immigration with one hand and potentially loosen the strings with the other.' Reform leader Nigel Farage told the Mail: 'Opening up our borders to millions of people in the EU after Starmer's speech last Monday will make Red Wall voters doubt Labour even more. It's clear Labour can't be trusted to secure our borders. This is a surrender deal by Starmer' She added: 'If this just becomes a way of overseas kids filling the low-paid job vacancies in London rather than looking to see how young people from areas like mine could be opened up to opportunities and experiences that they would never have otherwise dreamed of, then I would really question the value of it.' Veteran Labour MP Graham Stringer said accepting EU rules on food 'completely undermines the whole reason for being out' and is 'definitely a betrayal'. In a round of interviews yesterday morning as talks continued, Britain's lead negotiator Nick Thomas-Symonds admitted the UK would have to accept EU rules on food standards as part of a deal to cut red tape for exporters. Under so-called dynamic alignment, EU laws would have to be placed on the UK statute book again and Britain would again be placed under the jurisdiction of the European Court of Justice. Cabinet Office minister Mr Thomas-Symonds told the BBC: 'We don't come at this from an ideological perspective, we come from a practical perspective. Where it is in our national interest to align on common standards to make sure we get far easier trade... businesses that frankly have had to stop trading with the EU because of the red tape, can start trading with the EU again.' He also failed to confirm that there would be a cap on the youth mobility scheme demanded by Brussels, raising the prospect of millions of young adults moving to Britain to flee high unemployment on the continent. He would say only that the scheme would be 'smart and controlled', adding: 'Anything that was agreed on youth mobility – which by the way would be opportunities for young British people to experience different cultures, to travel and work – would be consistent with the objective of the migration White Paper, which is to bring the level of net migration down.' Sources said last night that outstanding issues remained on both sides and conversations would continue overnight.
Daily Mail
17-05-2025
- Business
- Daily Mail
EXCLUSIVE On the eve of Surrender Summit, Starmer eyes deal to cosy up to Brussels with hundreds of millions of UK taxpayers' cash
Britain could be forced to hand hundreds of millions of pounds of taxpayers' money to Brussels every year as part of a new EU deal being negotiated at a 'Surrender Summit' in London tomorrow. Sir Keir Starmer is preparing to sign an outline agreement for a 'reset' with the bloc that critics have branded a ' Brexit betrayal'. It is expected to include a youth mobility scheme – dubbed free movement 'by the back door' – and an agreement to allow EU trawlers to fish in British waters. The UK would also be forced to swallow many Brussels rules and accept a role for the European Court of Justice as the two sides deepen trade and security links. Brexiteers' fears that the Prime Minister is preparing to surrender freedoms gained after the 2016 referendum deepened last night after No 10 told The Mail on Sunday that Sir Keir believed that the British people were 'done' with Brexit. A Downing Street adviser said: 'His view is people have had it with the Brexit wars. They're done with all that. What they want is a relationship with Europe that benefits them. All they care about now is something that will put some extra money in their pockets'. The agreement in principle, which is expected to be signed by European Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen and European Council president Antonio Costa at Lancaster House in London, will also include a defence and security pact that would allow British companies to win contracts from a €150 billion (£125 billion) EU weapons fund. Firms such as BAE Systems could bid for contracts from the Security Action For Europe (Safe) fund, established in response to Russia's invasion of Ukraine and fears that Donald Trump could ditch America's Nato commitments. The agreement, which is expected to be signed by European Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen (pictured), will also include a defence and security pact that would allow British companies to win contracts from a €150 billion (£125 billion) EU weapons fund However, a senior diplomatic source last night said that the French government were leading demands for the UK to pay Brussels for the privilege of being allowed access to the fund. The source said: 'The figures being discussed are in the hundreds of millions up to possible billions. It would inevitably trigger memories of the days when Britain forked out a fortune to the EU each year'. The deal would also require Britain and the EU to 'standardise' mutual defence systems and ensure 'greater interoperability'. Last night Shadow Defence Secretary James Cartlidge said: 'Labour's Brexit betrayal is in full swing. Whenever they negotiate, Britain loses. 'We have been warning of their backsliding across the board, and now ahead of their Surrender Summit on Monday, fears are growing that Labour might force the British public to cough up as the price of their defence agreements. 'We are Europe's biggest defence power and have led the West in supporting Ukraine – they should be welcoming us, not making absurd demands. 'There must be no more taxpayer money sent to Brussels. We will fight Labour tooth and nail to prevent this.' Reform UK leader Nigel Farage said: 'We should not be putting our army under an EU flag, let alone then paying for the privilege'. Mr Farage has called the youth mobility plan, 'effectively be a back door to free movement of people that will be strongly opposed by Brexit voters', while the Conservative leader, Kemi Badenoch has claimed it could amount to an 'uncapped migration scheme'. But Sir Keir has insisted that it would not amount to a return to pre-Brexit freedom of movement, pointing to reciprocal schemes that the UK already has with the likes of Australia. Under such agreements, people between the ages of 18 and 35 are allowed to work in each other's countries for two years. They are subject to annual quotas, ranging from 100 visas for Andorra to 42,000 for Australia. The PM told The Times: 'We have a red line in our manifesto about freedom of movement, but youth mobility is not freedom of movement. 'I think the British public are pretty pragmatic, that's what we're known for, which is why I think they will look forward not backwards'. It has been calculated that 80 million Europeans would qualify for a British visa if a mobility scheme for under-35s is not capped. Last night, Downing Street said that the deal would help UK firms 'who face red tape and checks just to export to our nearest and biggest trading partner'; British supermarkets 'who have to pass these costs on to consumers and reduce the availability of products on shelves '; and British families 'who face higher bills, queues on holiday and whose safety and security is harmed by a lack of cooperation between neighbouring countries facing the same global challenges'. Sir Keir said: 'In this time of great uncertainty and volatility, the UK will not respond by turning inwards, but by proudly taking our place on the world stage – strengthening our alliances and closing deals in the interests of British people'.
