Sir Keir Starmer’s government has been urged to be “bold in its offer to the EU” in order to “maximise benefits” from his reset plans, as MPs criticised his “secretive” approach.
As the prime minister prepares to host the first UK-EU summit on Monday, where he hopes to make significant progress on a deal, a cross-party group of MPs warned that his efforts were being hampered by a “perceived absence of a strategic vision”.
In a letter to Sir Keir Starmer, the Commons Foreign Affairs Committee said the lack of a “compelling political narrative” had left those outside Westminster unclear about British policy and unconvinced of the “strategic importance” of making the reset a success.
Urging the government to be bolder, committee chair Dame Emily Thornberry said: “We should be clear about what it is that we want and act with a little less caution and a lot more confidence. If we do this, there is every reason to believe the EU will respond positively.”
Starmer vows closer EU ties will be good for jobs and living standards
Sir Keir Starmer has said that closer ties with the EU will be good for the UK’s jobs, bills and borders ahead of a London summit on Monday at which he could announce a deal with the bloc.
The prime minister 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.
“First India, then the United States – in the last two weeks alone that’s jobs saved, faster growth and wages rising. More money in the pockets of British working people, achieved through striking deals not striking poses.
“Tomorrow, we take another step forwards, with yet more benefits for the United Kingdom as the result of a strengthened partnership with the European Union. 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.”
Starmer gives new hope for EU youth mobility scheme
Sir Keir Starmer has defended his planned youth mobility scheme with the EU, insisting it does not cross Labour’s red line on freedom of movement and will be good for “working people”.
Ahead of its announcement at the UK-EU summit in London on Monday, he said a youth mobility deal is “not freedom of movement”.
Our political correspondent Archie Mitchell reports:
What have been sticking points in talks with EU?
In a last-minute row in the talks with the EU, it was reported on Friday that EU member states were demanding that EU students should pay lower British tuition fee rates for universities, which could cost the UK an estimated £1bn.
French president Emmanuel Macron was also leading a charge for demands that EU fishermen can fish in British waters as part of a deal to allow trade barriers to be removed.
Added to that, there were criticisms that there is a lack of ambition in a proposed youth mobility scheme for 18 to 30-year-olds, with claims the UK cap on the number of people who could come here are too low for the liking of EU member states.
Watch: Starmer meets von der Leyen in Albania in 11th hour Brexit reset talks
Revealed: The £25bn-a-year prize at stake in Starmer’s Brexit reset talks with EU
A £25bn annual boost to British exports is at stake for Sir Keir Starmer as he tries to secure a Brexit reset deal at a crucial summit on Monday, analysis shared with The Independent reveals.
Removing trade barriers on goods, including food and drink and electrical items, could result in a 2.2 per cent uplift in gross domestic product in the long run, boosting the economic growth the prime minister so desperately wants to deliver, financial analysts Frontier Economics found.
And a separate assessment by the National Institute for Economic and Social Research (NIESR) warns that a failure to land a deal for easier trading could lead to a 2.7 per cent drop in exports by 2027, costing the UK economy almost £30bn.
The impact on the British economy from such a deal is expected to dwarf that of the agreements recently signed with India and the US.
My colleagues Alicja Hagopian and David Maddox have the full, exclusive report:
Starmer urged to be ‘bold’ in Brexit reset talks ahead of crunch meeting
Sir Keir Starmer has been urged to be “bold” in Monday’s upcoming talks over his sought-after Brexit “reset” deal with the EU.
Ahead of the prime minister’s first UK-EU summit on Monday, MPs on the Commons foreign affairs committee warned that the government’s “secretive” approach to negotiations may have harmed its efforts.
In a letter to Sir Keir, the MPs insisted that public support for closer relations with Europe meant the government had space to be “bold in its offer to the EU” in order to “maximise benefits” from the negotiations.
The committee said: “We are concerned that such a piecemeal and secretive approach to these EU negotiations not only complicates public and parliamentary scrutiny of the reset, but could also negatively affect the impact, stability and durability of its outcome.”
Committee chair Dame Emily Thornberry said: “We should be clear about what it is that we want and act with a little less caution and a lot more confidence. If we do this, there is every reason to believe the EU will respond positively.”
