Starmer and Badenoch face off over EU deal
Prime Minister Keir Starmer has defended his EU ‘reset’ deal in the House of Commons amid criticism from opposition MPs that the pact unpicks Brexit and sells out the fishing industry.
Starmer told MPs that businesses’ reaction to the EU deal was so supportive that he didn’t “have time to run through the list” of all the endorsements.
But he did list the backing of the Federation of Small Businesses, the CBI, the British Retail Consortium, ASDA, Morrisons, Salmon Scotland, the Food and Drink Foundation, the British Chamber of Commerce, RyanAir, Vodafone, “and on and on it goes.”
The deal also sets out alignment with the EU’s Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS), which Starmer claims will spare UK businesses £800m on EU carbon taxes.
Starmer criticised the Brexit deal the Conservatives signed in 2020, claiming that breaking from the EU on electricity was a “needless rupture” as the grids are connected by underseas cables.
“For years we were told it couldn’t be done, what they meant was they couldn’t do it,” Starmer said about the “hat trick of deals,” which included agreements with India and the US.
Conservative scepticism
Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch poured scorn on Starmer’s triumphalist tone, responding with her mantra: “when Labour negotiates, Britain loses,” adding that the “hat trick of deals” constituted little more than an “own goal.”
Badenoch said Britain was losing because Starmer’s concessions over access to UK waters for EU fishing had given away “the prize most desired by EU member states” for “almost nothing,” a view echoed byBrexit architect Boris Johnson.
Badenoch asked whether Labour had “sold out” fishermen because they were not Labour voters.
She also criticised the ETS alignment, claiming that the government can “no longer cut energy costs without the EU’s permission.”
The Tory leader accused Starmer of “chasing headlines,” as there was “no binding agreement on anything” in the EU deal, to which Starmer responded that for a deal to go through, it would have to pass through Parliament first.
Starmer hit back at Badenoch, saying that “for weeks now she has been dismissive of the benefits of any trade deal, in defiance, frankly, of her party’s history.”
Lib Dem leader Ed Davey said that “hearing the Conservative leader complain today is like listening to a backseat driver who previously crashed the car,” adding that the EU deal could have been more ambitious.
Selling the deal
Starmer’s speech on the benefits of the deal mirrors his remarks at the summit, heralding the “unprecedented access to the EU market” the UK has secured. The PM cited shellfish, which are “hugely important in Cornwall, Devon and Scotland,” and are now “back on the menu” in Europe.
On the Security and Defence Partnership, Starmer said it is “our responsibility to step up” to the plate when it comes to the war with Ukraine. “It’s what the world demands, and it’s what this partnership delivers.”
Starmer added that the 2020 deal left a “huge gap” in our borders, where net migration quadrupled post-Brexit.
An agreement over access to EU countries’ e-gates to cut down airport queues did not need any selling, eliciting cheers from both sides of the House.