Archie Mitchell and Kate Devlin
Tue, September 19, 2023
France and Germany are pushing plans to offer Britain and other European countries “associate membership” of the EU in a move that could rebuild the UK’s ties with the bloc.
The two countries have tabled a blueprint that would create four new tiers, with the most aligned states forming an “inner circle”.
In what will be seen as an olive branch, a new outer tier of “associate membership” would be open to the UK, laying the ground for a closer economic relationship.
Senior Tories welcomed the proposal with former deputy prime minister Lord Heseltine telling The Independent that Britain must urgently explore the idea as the “overarching majority of people in Britain see Brexit as a mistake”.
“The dam is breaking and there is increasingly a move towards integrating with Europe,” he said.
But the move prompted a furious reaction from Brexiteers who accused EU countries of “desperation” in their bid to enlarge the bloc.
News of the plans came after Sir Keir Starmer held talks in Paris with French president Emmanuel Macron, the final leg of an international tour designed to show the Labour leader as a prime-minister-in-waiting.
But as both main parties walk a tightrope over Brexit in the run up to next year’s general election, Labour and No 10 ruled out any form of associate membership of the EU.
As he tries to appeal to both pro-remain businesses and Leave voters, Sir Keir at the weekend pledged to secure a "much better" Brexit deal if he wins the next election, but rejected re-joining the customs union or the single market.
In March the chairman of the government watchdog the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) warned the economic impact of Brexit was the same “magnitude” as the Covid pandemic and the energy price crisis.
Richard Hughes said Britain’s gross domestic product (GDP), a key measure of a country’s wealth, would be 4 per cent higher if the UK had stayed in the EU.
Under the plans the UK would be expected to contribute to the EU’s annual budget and be governed by the European Court of Justice in exchange for “participation” in the single market.
Associate members, who would form the bloc’s first “outer tier”, could include members of the single market who are not in the EU, such as Switzerland, or “even the UK”, a paper put forward by France and Germany stated.
They would not be bound to “ever closer union” and further integration, it said.
But they would have to commit to the “common principles and values” of the EU.
Although they would pay into the EU’s budget, costs would be lower than those paid by full members.
Sir Keir said his meeting with Macron began with an “exchange of gifts” and covered topics including “the relationship between our two countries” and future “prosperity and security”.
Sir Keir stressed plans to “build” on the relationship between France and Britain if Labour wins power.
A European diplomatic source told The Times the plan was designed with Labour in mind, despite Sir Keir having ruled out rejoining the EU’s single market.
“It is carefully balanced politically to be a potential place for Britain without the need to ever rejoin the EU or to hold a referendum,” the source said.
A party spokesperson said: “Labour will seek a better deal for Britain. This does not involve any form of membership.”
And the prime minister’s official spokesman, asked whether Rishi Sunak would countenance Britain becoming an associate member of the EU, said: “No.”
Associate membership would not include a customs union, allowing Britain to keep an independent trade policy.
Lord Heseltine told The Independent Britain “must urgently explore” France and Germany’s plan.
The Tory former deputy prime minister said: “The remorseless pressure of public opinion is changing the dynamic of politics.
“The dam is breaking and there is increasingly a move towards integrating with Europe. This is an opportunity offered by France and Germany which should be seized upon.
“The overarching majority of people in Britain see Brexit as a mistake, even those who still believe in it agree it has never been possible to implement it.
“The Tories have at least recognised change is needed, firstly with Northern Ireland and the Windsor Agreement and then with Horizon, allowing cooperation on sciences and technology.”He also suggested that political stances could shift after the next election.
“While the red wall may be insurmountable on this side of the general election, the pressure of events will push people of both main parties to dare to change and to make permanent links with Europe,” he said.
“This new plan between France and Germany must be explored urgently.”
In response to the plan, Tobias Ellwood, who has previously called for Britain to rejoin the EU's single market, said the UK needs a "pragmatic re-engagement with Europe".
"As our Brexit deal comes up for formal re-negotiation, we need to explore more avenues for economic advantage,” he added.
Asked about the potential to join a new outer tier of the EU, Tory former business secretary and arch-Brexiteer Sir Jacob Rees-Mogg said: “I like the outer tier that we are currently in.”
Former Brexit minister Lord Frost told The Independent Britain should “certainly not” consider associate membership.
Sir John Redwood, the Tory former trade minister, told The Independent that leaving the single market was “a crucial part of the Brexit case” and rejoining would do “huge damage” to British industry.
He said a “great win” of Brexit was no longer having to contribute to the bloc’s budget.
Tory MP Craig Mackinlay said the idea “smacks of desperation” at a time when many member states are wondering “what this democracy devouring beast is for”.
He told The Independent: “The country rejected this once and would do so again.”
Gina Miller, the anti-Brexit campaigner, told The Independent the UK should “see this move as an opportunity to start” the process to rejoin the EU.
“This ‘onion’ option, forming part of an outer layer of the EU, is an olive branch from our European neighbours, but we must negotiate cautiously to make sure that we regain at least some of the influence we lost under Brexiteer extremism,” she said.
And Best for Britain, which campaigns for closer ties with the EU, said the proposals were “encouraging”, although associate membership remains “some way off”.
Under the plans a second tier for outer members would not include any integration with EU law but would see an upgrade of the European Political Community (EPC), of which Britain is a part. It would include free trade agreements in certain areas such as energy or defence, and would focus on cooperation on important issues such as climate and security.
The paper has been written by an official ‘Franco-German working group on EU institutional reform’, made up of experts, academics and lawyers, set up by both the French and German governments earlier this year. The proposals are due to be presented at a monthly meeting of ministers of EU member states.
Starmer wants ‘closer trading relationship’ with EU if Labour wins power
Genevieve Holl-Allen
Mon, September 18, 2023 at 5:40 AM MDT·3 min read
0
Sir Keir Starmer said he had an ‘utter determination’ to make Brexit work - Minas Panagiotakis/Getty Images
Sir Keir Starmer has vowed to seek a “closer trading relationship” with the European Union if Labour wins the next general election.
The Labour leader said he would seek to rewrite the existing Brexit deal when it is up for review in 2025.
Speaking at a conference of centre-Left political leaders in Montreal, he told the Financial Times: “Almost everyone recognises the deal [Boris] Johnson struck is not a good deal – it’s far too thin.
“As we go into 2025 we will attempt to get a much better deal for the UK. I do think we can have a closer trading relationship as well. That’s subject to further discussion.”
Sir Keir said he had an “utter determination” to make Brexit work and again stated Labour would not seek to take the UK back into the EU.
The Conservative Party seized on his comments, accusing him of wanting to take Britain “back to square one on Brexit”.
The Labour leader said his two children were among his motivations for rewriting the Brexit deal, adding: “I’ve got a 15-year-old boy and a 12-year-old girl. I’m not going to let them grow up in a world where all I’ve got to say to them about their future is that it’s going to be worse than it might otherwise have been.”
Asked about Sir Keir’s comments on Monday, Downing Street said that the Brexit deal should not be renegotiated.
The Prime Minister’s spokesman told journalists: “We’re not looking to relitigate the past or reopen it in any way, shape or form. Obviously, there is a set statutory review period, but beyond that we’re very much focused on maximising the opportunities it presents for the public.
“We expect the [Trade and Cooperation Agreement] to remain the basis of our relationship with the EU and are focused on maximising opportunities it presents us with. It is the world’s largest zero tariffs, zero quotas deal. It’s the first time the EU has ever agreed to such access in a free trade agreement.”
Sir Keir said he saw the 2025 review of Brexit as an “important” moment to reset UK-EU relations. He will travel to Paris on Tuesday to meet Emmanuel Macron, the French president. They are expected to discuss post-Brexit relations and a possible migrant returns deal with Europe.
His indication last week that a Labour government could be prepared to do a deal under which the UK takes a quota of asylum seekers who arrive in the bloc in exchange for the ability to return migrants who illegally cross the Channel drew criticism from the Tories.
Suella Braverman, the Home Secretary, claimed that the Labour leader would “make Britain the dumping ground” for EU migrants, with Labour accusing her of “embarrassing nonsense”.
David Lammy, the shadow foreign secretary, who will accompany Sir Keir to Paris, on Sunday proposed a broader reset of foreign policy with the EU under a future Labour government.
He told The Observer that relations with the EU were “the top priority” for the party, describing it as “bizarre” that the UK “does not currently under the Government have structured dialogue with the European Union in a constructive way”.
Britain's opposition leader Keir Starmer pledges new deal with EU under Labor
Paul Godfrey
Mon, September 18, 2023
Labor Leader Sir Keir Starmer has promised to negotiate a "better" Brexit deal saying the agreement delivered by former Prime Minister Boris Johnson -- after years of delays -- was too narrow.
Mon, September 18, 2023
Labor Leader Sir Keir Starmer has promised to negotiate a "better" Brexit deal saying the agreement delivered by former Prime Minister Boris Johnson -- after years of delays -- was too narrow.
File Photo by Tolga Akmen/EPA-EFE
Sept. 18 (UPI) -- Keir Starmer, leader of Britain's opposition Labor Party, pledged to renegotiate the deal struck by former Prime Minister Boris Johnson with Brussels that took the country out of the European Union at the end of 2020.
Speaking at the Global Progress Action Summit in Montreal on Sunday, Starmer said he would seek a far better deal when it is reviewed in 2025 as Johnson's Brexit agreement was "too thin," but ruled out rejoining or entering the customs union or the single market of the 27-country bloc.
"Almost everyone recognizes the deal Johnson struck is not a good deal -- it's too thin. As we go into 2025 we will attempt to get a much better deal for the U.K.," Starmer told the Financial Times.
"I do think we can have a closer trading relationship as well. That's subject to discussion."
Saying he was motivated by the futures of the younger generation, he said Britain had "to make it work."
"That's not a question of going back in, but I refuse to accept that we can't make it work," he said.
Johnson's EU-U.K. Trade and Co-operation Agreement signed in December 2020, has a clause mandating a joint review of its implementation every five years.
The ruling Conservatives accused Starmer of a U-turn after he had pledged not to try to reverse or amend Brexit.
"Three years ago he promised he wouldn't seek major changes to the U.K.'s new relationship with the EU, but now his latest short-term position is that he will," a spokesperson for the party said.
"What price would Keir Starmer be prepared to pay to the EU for renegotiating our relationship?"
In raising his international profile as a leader ahead of a general election that must be held before the end of 2024, Starmer has in recent weeks been increasingly vocal on the need to improve ties with Brussels.
His comments in Canada follow a visit to Europol in the Hague on Thursday for discussions on how to tackle the tens of thousands of asylum seekers arriving on Britain's shores in small boats -- more than 45,000 in 2022.
Starmer is due to travel to Paris on Tuesday to meet French President Emmanuel Macron for the second time in under 10 days with post-Brexit ties high on the agenda. The pair last met on the sidelines of the G20 Summit in New Delhi held 9-10 September.
Britain touted as future ‘associate member’ of EU
Joe Barnes
Tue, September 19, 2023
Britain could rejoin the European Union as an ‘associate member’
Britain could rejoin the European Union as an “associate member” under plans for the bloc’s expansion drawn up by France and Germany.
The UK would be expected to contribute to the EU’s annual budget and be governed by the European Court of Justice in exchange for “participation” in the bloc’s single market.
The plan will be officially unveiled on Tuesday afternoon as Sir Keir Starmer, the Labour leader, meets Emmanuel Macron, the French president, in Paris.
Sir Keir has said he would prioritise getting “a much better deal for the UK” as part of a review of the post-Brexit trade deal, due in 2025, if he wins the next election.
Keir Starmer and Emmanuel Macron are holding talks in Paris - Laurent Blevennec/Presidence de la Republique France
Brussels is preparing to welcome Ukraine as a full member of the bloc in less than seven years as part of its biggest shake-up in decades.
Leading European officials have set a 2030 deadline for the expansion, which will also include the Western Balkans, and the largest reforms to the EU’s budget and voting system since the Lisbon treaty in 2007.
Paris and Berlin will present their vision for the bloc on the sidelines of a ministerial meeting in Brussels on Tuesday.
Laurence Boone and Anna Luhrmann, the Europe ministers of France and Germany, will propose a four-tiered structure to integrate countries that aren’t “willing and/or able to join the EU in the foreseeable future”.
Under the plan, Britain could be invited into the third tier as an “associate member” of the EU.
“Associate members would not be bound to ‘ever closer union’ and further integration, nor would they participate in deeper political integration in other policy areas such as justice and home affairs or EU citizenship,” a report commissioned by France and Germany says.
“The basic requirement would be the commitment to comply with the EU’s common principles and values, including democracy and rule of law,” the report reads. “The cost areas of participation would be the single market.”
The EU’s internal market is built around four key freedoms – movement of people, goods, capital and services.
Membership fees would be lower than usual contributions by full members but would result in “lower benefits”, such as no access to the EU’s common agricultural fund.
Associate members would be represented by speakers inside the European Commission and Parliament without any voting rights.
The Trade and Cooperation Agreement signed by Boris Johnson ended the European Court of Justice’s jurisdiction in Britain and ended the UK’s financial contributions to the bloc.
“Countries would join one or the other outer tier out of their own political will, either because they withdraw from the EU or because they have no intention of joining in the first place,” according to the Franco-German plan.
“Careful negotiations will be needed to find the right balance between a looser form of integration and institutional participation while retaining the highest benefits for full EU member states.”
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View comments (1)
UK Labour leader Keir Starmer says he'll seek closer ties with the EU if he wins the next election
Sept. 18 (UPI) -- Keir Starmer, leader of Britain's opposition Labor Party, pledged to renegotiate the deal struck by former Prime Minister Boris Johnson with Brussels that took the country out of the European Union at the end of 2020.
Speaking at the Global Progress Action Summit in Montreal on Sunday, Starmer said he would seek a far better deal when it is reviewed in 2025 as Johnson's Brexit agreement was "too thin," but ruled out rejoining or entering the customs union or the single market of the 27-country bloc.
"Almost everyone recognizes the deal Johnson struck is not a good deal -- it's too thin. As we go into 2025 we will attempt to get a much better deal for the U.K.," Starmer told the Financial Times.
"I do think we can have a closer trading relationship as well. That's subject to discussion."
Saying he was motivated by the futures of the younger generation, he said Britain had "to make it work."
"That's not a question of going back in, but I refuse to accept that we can't make it work," he said.
Johnson's EU-U.K. Trade and Co-operation Agreement signed in December 2020, has a clause mandating a joint review of its implementation every five years.
The ruling Conservatives accused Starmer of a U-turn after he had pledged not to try to reverse or amend Brexit.
"Three years ago he promised he wouldn't seek major changes to the U.K.'s new relationship with the EU, but now his latest short-term position is that he will," a spokesperson for the party said.
"What price would Keir Starmer be prepared to pay to the EU for renegotiating our relationship?"
In raising his international profile as a leader ahead of a general election that must be held before the end of 2024, Starmer has in recent weeks been increasingly vocal on the need to improve ties with Brussels.
His comments in Canada follow a visit to Europol in the Hague on Thursday for discussions on how to tackle the tens of thousands of asylum seekers arriving on Britain's shores in small boats -- more than 45,000 in 2022.
Starmer is due to travel to Paris on Tuesday to meet French President Emmanuel Macron for the second time in under 10 days with post-Brexit ties high on the agenda. The pair last met on the sidelines of the G20 Summit in New Delhi held 9-10 September.
Britain touted as future ‘associate member’ of EU
Joe Barnes
Tue, September 19, 2023
Britain could rejoin the European Union as an ‘associate member’
Britain could rejoin the European Union as an “associate member” under plans for the bloc’s expansion drawn up by France and Germany.
The UK would be expected to contribute to the EU’s annual budget and be governed by the European Court of Justice in exchange for “participation” in the bloc’s single market.
The plan will be officially unveiled on Tuesday afternoon as Sir Keir Starmer, the Labour leader, meets Emmanuel Macron, the French president, in Paris.
Sir Keir has said he would prioritise getting “a much better deal for the UK” as part of a review of the post-Brexit trade deal, due in 2025, if he wins the next election.
Keir Starmer and Emmanuel Macron are holding talks in Paris - Laurent Blevennec/Presidence de la Republique France
Brussels is preparing to welcome Ukraine as a full member of the bloc in less than seven years as part of its biggest shake-up in decades.
Leading European officials have set a 2030 deadline for the expansion, which will also include the Western Balkans, and the largest reforms to the EU’s budget and voting system since the Lisbon treaty in 2007.
Paris and Berlin will present their vision for the bloc on the sidelines of a ministerial meeting in Brussels on Tuesday.
Laurence Boone and Anna Luhrmann, the Europe ministers of France and Germany, will propose a four-tiered structure to integrate countries that aren’t “willing and/or able to join the EU in the foreseeable future”.
Under the plan, Britain could be invited into the third tier as an “associate member” of the EU.
“Associate members would not be bound to ‘ever closer union’ and further integration, nor would they participate in deeper political integration in other policy areas such as justice and home affairs or EU citizenship,” a report commissioned by France and Germany says.
“The basic requirement would be the commitment to comply with the EU’s common principles and values, including democracy and rule of law,” the report reads. “The cost areas of participation would be the single market.”
The EU’s internal market is built around four key freedoms – movement of people, goods, capital and services.
Membership fees would be lower than usual contributions by full members but would result in “lower benefits”, such as no access to the EU’s common agricultural fund.
Associate members would be represented by speakers inside the European Commission and Parliament without any voting rights.
The Trade and Cooperation Agreement signed by Boris Johnson ended the European Court of Justice’s jurisdiction in Britain and ended the UK’s financial contributions to the bloc.
“Countries would join one or the other outer tier out of their own political will, either because they withdraw from the EU or because they have no intention of joining in the first place,” according to the Franco-German plan.
“Careful negotiations will be needed to find the right balance between a looser form of integration and institutional participation while retaining the highest benefits for full EU member states.”
Broaden your horizons with award-winning British journalism. Try The Telegraph free for 1 month, then enjoy 1 year for just $9 with our US-exclusive offer.
View comments (1)
UK Labour leader Keir Starmer says he'll seek closer ties with the EU if he wins the next election
JILL LAWLESS
Mon, September 18, 2023
Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer arriving with his shadow cabinet in central London for their first meeting, Tuesday Sept. 5, 2023.
(Jordan Pettitt/PA via AP)
LONDON (AP) — British opposition leader Keir Starmer says he will seek a closer relationship with the European Union, but won’t reverse Brexit, if his Labour Party wins a national election that’s due by the end of next year.
Opinion polls put the left-of-center party as much as 20 points ahead of the governing Conservatives, who have been in power since 2010.
Starmer told the Financial Times in an interview that the U.K.-EU trade and cooperation agreement negotiated by the Conservatives is “far too thin.”
“We will attempt to get a much better deal for the U.K.,” he said, adding that the two sides “can have a closer trading relationship as well.”
Britain’s departure from the EU in 2020 remains a divisive political issue. Starmer campaigned to remain in the bloc during the 2016 referendum campaign that was won narrowly by the “leave” side.
Since becoming Labour leader in 2020 he has confirmed that the party will not seek to rejoin the 27-nation EU or try to re-enter the bloc’s single market and customs union, both of which would commit the U.K. to stick closely to EU rules. But he says he will seek to strengthen ties that became strained during testy divorce negotiations.
To an extent, Conservative Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has restored a U.K.-EU relationship that hit rock-bottom under his euroskeptic predecessors Boris Johnson and Liz Truss. He has struck a deal to resolve a dispute over Northern Ireland trade rules, and signed Britain up to the EU’s Horizon Europe science cooperation program. But Sunak is a committed Brexiteer who is wary of getting too close to the bloc.
The Brexit divorce agreement is up for review every five years, starting in 2025. Sunak’s spokesman, Max Blain, said Monday that the Conservative government did not plan to renegotiate the deal “in any way, shape or form.”
As Labour’s consistent poll lead raises the party’s hopes of a return to power, Starmer is making international visits aimed at boosting his profile and connections ahead of a general election in 2024.
He is due in Paris on Tuesday to meet French President Emmanuel Macron. Last week he travelled to The Hague to discuss the fight against people-smuggling gangs with EU police agency Europol and met Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau at a center-left political gathering in Montreal.
Keir Starmer warned of tough choice over revisiting Brexit
Nicholas Cecil
Mon, September 18, 2023
Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer leaving Europol in The Hague, Netherlands
LONDON (AP) — British opposition leader Keir Starmer says he will seek a closer relationship with the European Union, but won’t reverse Brexit, if his Labour Party wins a national election that’s due by the end of next year.
Opinion polls put the left-of-center party as much as 20 points ahead of the governing Conservatives, who have been in power since 2010.
Starmer told the Financial Times in an interview that the U.K.-EU trade and cooperation agreement negotiated by the Conservatives is “far too thin.”
“We will attempt to get a much better deal for the U.K.,” he said, adding that the two sides “can have a closer trading relationship as well.”
Britain’s departure from the EU in 2020 remains a divisive political issue. Starmer campaigned to remain in the bloc during the 2016 referendum campaign that was won narrowly by the “leave” side.
Since becoming Labour leader in 2020 he has confirmed that the party will not seek to rejoin the 27-nation EU or try to re-enter the bloc’s single market and customs union, both of which would commit the U.K. to stick closely to EU rules. But he says he will seek to strengthen ties that became strained during testy divorce negotiations.
To an extent, Conservative Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has restored a U.K.-EU relationship that hit rock-bottom under his euroskeptic predecessors Boris Johnson and Liz Truss. He has struck a deal to resolve a dispute over Northern Ireland trade rules, and signed Britain up to the EU’s Horizon Europe science cooperation program. But Sunak is a committed Brexiteer who is wary of getting too close to the bloc.
The Brexit divorce agreement is up for review every five years, starting in 2025. Sunak’s spokesman, Max Blain, said Monday that the Conservative government did not plan to renegotiate the deal “in any way, shape or form.”
As Labour’s consistent poll lead raises the party’s hopes of a return to power, Starmer is making international visits aimed at boosting his profile and connections ahead of a general election in 2024.
He is due in Paris on Tuesday to meet French President Emmanuel Macron. Last week he travelled to The Hague to discuss the fight against people-smuggling gangs with EU police agency Europol and met Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau at a center-left political gathering in Montreal.
Keir Starmer warned of tough choice over revisiting Brexit
Nicholas Cecil
Mon, September 18, 2023
Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer leaving Europol in The Hague, Netherlands
(Stefan Rousseau/PA) (PA Wire)
Sir Keir Starmer would face difficult decisions when renegotiating Britain’s Brexit deal, experts warned on Monday.
The Labour leader is set to hold talks with French president Emmanuel Macron in Paris on Tuesday and meet business leaders. He wants to build a “closer trading relationship” with the European Union and strengthen the Brexit deal struck by Boris Johnson which he branded “far too thin”.
But experts stressed that without rejoining the single market or customs union, which Labour has ruled out, Sir Keir would have limited room to manoeuvre to reshape trade relations with Brussels if he became prime minister. Axing trade barriers with the European bloc, when the Trade and Cooperation Agreement is reviewed in 2025, may only be possible if Britain, to some degree, becomes more of a rule-follower, having been a joint rule-maker when in the EU.
On new Brexit arrangements, Quentin Peel, associate fellow on the Europe Programme at think tank Chatham House, said: “It’s by no means straightforward. The closer you are going to be, the more you will have to follow EU rules.”
On trade, he believes “more bits and pieces” could be improved such as veterinary regulations, while major progress could be made on better co-ordinating security and foreign policy, and getting access to the Erasmus scheme to study abroad.
John Springford, deputy director of the Centre for European Reform think tank, added: “‘Some bolt-ons to the EU-UK trade deal would help some sectors, like agriculture.
“But they wouldn’t change the problem: a free trade agreement is much less effective than a single market and customs union. Starmer says he wants a closer EU relationship to improve growth, but his red lines on the EU make it very hard to achieve that.”
Downing Street has said it will not seek to renegotiate the post-Brexit trade agreement with the European Union after Labour pledged to seek a "much better deal".
Asked whether the Government thinks the deal should be renegotiated in 2025, the Prime Minister's official spokesman said: "No, we expect the TCA (trade and co-operation agreement) to remain the basis of our relationship with the EU and are focused on maximising the opportunities it presents us with."
Asked if it can be improved, he said: "We are focused, as I say, on taking the TCA and using our Brexit freedoms to the benefit of the public already.
"We're not looking to relitigate the past or reopen it in any way, shape or form.
"Obviously there is a set statutory review period but beyond that we're very much focused on maximising the opportunities it presents for the public."
The Labour leader spent the weekend meeting fellow centre-left leaders in Montreal, Canada, including the country’s prime minister Justin Trudeau.
Meeting Mr Macron on Tuesday will be seen as another sign that world leaders believe Sir Keir may be Britain’s next prime minister.
Speaking to the Financial Times ahead of his French trip, Sir Keir said: “Almost everyone recognises the deal Johnson struck is not a good deal — it’s far too thin. We will attempt to get a much better deal for the UK.”
He added: “I do think we can have a closer trading relationship as well. That’s subject to further discussion.
“We have to make it work. That’s not a question of going back in. But I refuse to accept that we can’t make it work. I think about those future generations when I say that.
“I say that as a dad. I’ve got a 15-year-old boy and a 12-year-old girl. I’m not going to let them grow up in a world where all I’ve got to say to them about their future is, ‘It’s going to be worse than it might otherwise have been’.”
But the Tories accused the Labour leader of flip-flopping on whether he would seek a major shake-up of the Brexit deal. Pensions minister Laura Trott said Sir Keir had changed his position on Brexit multiple times, including previously pushing for a second referendum.
“I think the question is, what price is he willing to pay to reopen that trade deal?
“And it’s something that I’m very concerned about,” she added.
The Bank of England has said Brexit has reduced the capacity of Britain’s economy to grow, weighing on investment and productivity.
Earlier this year, the BoE’s deputy governor Ben Broadbent said the impact of leaving the EU had fed through into the economy faster than the central bank had expected, although the effects had not been larger than anticipat
Sir Keir Starmer would face difficult decisions when renegotiating Britain’s Brexit deal, experts warned on Monday.
The Labour leader is set to hold talks with French president Emmanuel Macron in Paris on Tuesday and meet business leaders. He wants to build a “closer trading relationship” with the European Union and strengthen the Brexit deal struck by Boris Johnson which he branded “far too thin”.
But experts stressed that without rejoining the single market or customs union, which Labour has ruled out, Sir Keir would have limited room to manoeuvre to reshape trade relations with Brussels if he became prime minister. Axing trade barriers with the European bloc, when the Trade and Cooperation Agreement is reviewed in 2025, may only be possible if Britain, to some degree, becomes more of a rule-follower, having been a joint rule-maker when in the EU.
On new Brexit arrangements, Quentin Peel, associate fellow on the Europe Programme at think tank Chatham House, said: “It’s by no means straightforward. The closer you are going to be, the more you will have to follow EU rules.”
On trade, he believes “more bits and pieces” could be improved such as veterinary regulations, while major progress could be made on better co-ordinating security and foreign policy, and getting access to the Erasmus scheme to study abroad.
John Springford, deputy director of the Centre for European Reform think tank, added: “‘Some bolt-ons to the EU-UK trade deal would help some sectors, like agriculture.
“But they wouldn’t change the problem: a free trade agreement is much less effective than a single market and customs union. Starmer says he wants a closer EU relationship to improve growth, but his red lines on the EU make it very hard to achieve that.”
Downing Street has said it will not seek to renegotiate the post-Brexit trade agreement with the European Union after Labour pledged to seek a "much better deal".
Asked whether the Government thinks the deal should be renegotiated in 2025, the Prime Minister's official spokesman said: "No, we expect the TCA (trade and co-operation agreement) to remain the basis of our relationship with the EU and are focused on maximising the opportunities it presents us with."
Asked if it can be improved, he said: "We are focused, as I say, on taking the TCA and using our Brexit freedoms to the benefit of the public already.
"We're not looking to relitigate the past or reopen it in any way, shape or form.
"Obviously there is a set statutory review period but beyond that we're very much focused on maximising the opportunities it presents for the public."
The Labour leader spent the weekend meeting fellow centre-left leaders in Montreal, Canada, including the country’s prime minister Justin Trudeau.
Meeting Mr Macron on Tuesday will be seen as another sign that world leaders believe Sir Keir may be Britain’s next prime minister.
Speaking to the Financial Times ahead of his French trip, Sir Keir said: “Almost everyone recognises the deal Johnson struck is not a good deal — it’s far too thin. We will attempt to get a much better deal for the UK.”
He added: “I do think we can have a closer trading relationship as well. That’s subject to further discussion.
“We have to make it work. That’s not a question of going back in. But I refuse to accept that we can’t make it work. I think about those future generations when I say that.
“I say that as a dad. I’ve got a 15-year-old boy and a 12-year-old girl. I’m not going to let them grow up in a world where all I’ve got to say to them about their future is, ‘It’s going to be worse than it might otherwise have been’.”
But the Tories accused the Labour leader of flip-flopping on whether he would seek a major shake-up of the Brexit deal. Pensions minister Laura Trott said Sir Keir had changed his position on Brexit multiple times, including previously pushing for a second referendum.
“I think the question is, what price is he willing to pay to reopen that trade deal?
“And it’s something that I’m very concerned about,” she added.
The Bank of England has said Brexit has reduced the capacity of Britain’s economy to grow, weighing on investment and productivity.
Earlier this year, the BoE’s deputy governor Ben Broadbent said the impact of leaving the EU had fed through into the economy faster than the central bank had expected, although the effects had not been larger than anticipat
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