Simon Clarke, levelling up secretary when Liz Truss was PM, former MP for Middlesbrough South and East Cleveland and a leader Tory Brexiter, has described today’s deal as “a triumph of elite concerns”. He posted this on social media. Today is a triumph of elite concerns - youth mobility, 5 minutes quicker through the airport in Tuscany in summer - over those of working class Britain. It’s not these people, or their kids, who will miss out on jobs or have their wages undercut by EU labour. They don’t care about scarce fishing grounds being hoovered up by French or Spanish super trawlers. They don’t worry about whether British agriculture is stopped from innovating. And so it goes on. We spent 4 years battling to leave the EU properly, to avoid the utter humiliation of leaving only in part, and becoming a ruletaker. That’s not only because of the practical consequences - it renders leaving largely pointless - but also because it’s the thin end of the wedge to take us back in (“why not go back and have a seat at the table?”). Reporters were asking Keir Starmer “Have you sold out the fish?” as he arrived at Lancaster House. ITV News has the clip. All the key figures have now arrived at Lancaster House for the UK-EU summit. As Eleni Courea and Lisa O’Carroll revealed in a Guardian story at the weekend, the deal will involve an agreement for UK passport holders to use e-gates across Europe – allowing British holidaymakers to get through airports more quickly. In a post on social media, Joe Barnes from the Telegraph has a picture of what the text of the agreement says about this. Steve Baker, the former minister and leading Tory Brexiter, says that, because there is no current legal ban on Britons using e-gates at EU airports (as paragraph 16 quoted above says), this does not amount to a “win” for Labour in the negotiations. The Liberal Democrats have welcomed news of the deal with the EU as a “positive step”. In a statement, Ed Davey, the Lib Dem leader, said: These seem to be some positive first steps in rebuilding our relationship with Europe after years of a Conservative party that wrecked trust and broke our relationship with our closest allies. The prime minister must ignore the naysayers and dinosaurs in Reform and the Conservative party and be more ambitious in getting the best deal in the national interest. Lisa O’Carroll is a Guardian correspondent covering Brexit and trade. It is understood the fishing deal will run for 12 years until 2038 with concessions for fishing industries such as processing that don’t have direct access to the seas. This would mean fish processing can take place anywhere including in UK communities that ended up setting up complex and costly veterinary certification to comply with Brexit export health and safety rules Stuart Rose, the Asda chair and former Marks & Spencer boss who sits in the Lords as a Conservative party chair, has said that it is “nonsense” for his party to describe the today’s deal with the EU as “surrender”. (See 9.12am.) In an interview with Times Radio, asked if agreed with the “surrender” claim made by the Tories, Rose replied: No, it’s nonsense. I really am quite disappointed and sad that I live in a country – you know, I am a Conservative, although I am not a politically active Conservative, I’m not a politician. But to hear that the Conservatives are saying we must be rule givers and not rule takers. It’s about giving a bit, taking a bit, and understanding this is a very difficult, unpleasant world we live in. And we’ve got to make sure that for the UK public and for the UK, we do our best. That’s what we elect our politicians to do. That’s what I expect them to do. And talking about small things like surrender is pathetic. Rose, who was a leading anti-Brexit campaigner in 2016 (unlike those leading the Conservative party now), described the deal as a “win” for Britain. Rachel Reeves, the chancellor, told business leaders in Downing Street this morning that the deal with the EU would be “about bringing more good jobs to our country, it’s about reducing prices in the shops for consumers, as your costs fall as businesses, and, crucially, it’s about our defence partnership with our allies”. According to Natasha Clark from LBC, the government is going to announce extra money for the fishing industry. Gov sources say new £360m extra for coastal fishing Say the EU tried to tie fishing deal to business agricultural checks, but it’s been confirmed there won’t be a time limit on those Unclear exactly what checks will be relaxed and how at the moment Nigel Farage, the Reform UK leader, has claimed that, if the EU retains access to UK fishing waters for another 12 years, as reported, that will amount to the “end of the fishing industry. He posted this on social media. If true that will be the end of the fishing industry. Nick Thomas-Symonds, the Cabinet Office minister in charge of post-Brexit relations with the EU, has posted this on social media about the reset deal agreed today. Historic day. After months of negotiations, I can announce that the Labour Government has secured a new agreement with the EU. Good for jobs Good for bills Good for borders And more… Britain back on the world stage, with a Government in the service of working people. Here is the latest Guardian story on the reset deal, by Peter Walker, Jessica Elgot and Lisa O’Carroll. And this is what they says about fishing. According to EU sources, access to British fishing waters will be granted until the end of June 2038, an extension of 12 years. In return, the agreement on easier checks for food, animal and other agricultural products, known as sanitary and phytosanitary goods (SPS), is indefinite. While the length of the fishing rights deal is likely to prompt criticism from the Conservatives and Reform UK, it is understood that Downing Street pushed back against EU demands for a time-limited SPS deal and a permanent arrangement on fishing. Andrew Bowie, the shadow Scottish secretary, had a difficult time on the Today programme when he was interviewed by Nick Robinson before 7am about the EU-UK deal. Robinson was already quite fired up, having spent a few minutes rowing with a Krelmin spokesperson who claimed Ukraine started the war with Russia, and he asked Bowie four times why the Conservatives were describing the deal with Brussels as “surrender”, using the language of war to discuss a trade agreement with allies. Bowie eventually said that if the UK ended up being subject to EU laws, sending money to the EU, and allowing more EU fishing boats into UK waters, “then we will indeed have surrendered to the demands of the Europeans. Union”. The encounter has not persuaded Bowie to tone down his language. Within the last hour, he posted this on social media. If it is true that Labour has surrendered British waters to the EU until 2038, that is worse than a surrender, it is a total capitulation. Other Scottish Tories are saying the same. This is from Harriet Cross, MP for Gordon and Buchan. If this morning’s reports are true that Labour have given the EU access to UK fishing waters until 2038, this isn’t a just a betrayal, it’s a complete abandonment of our fishing fleets. And this is from John Lamont, MP for Berwickshire, Roxburgh and Selkirk. The latest Starmer Sellout. The EU takes 7 times more fish by value from British waters than we take from theirs. So why is Keir Starmer giving European fisherman the same access to British waters for the next 12 years? Absolutely disgraceful! Many people working in the fishing industry strongly supported Brexit because they thought it would allow them to regain some of the exclusive access to British waters they had before the UK joined the EU. But they felt betrayed when Boris Johnson negotiated a post-Brexit deal with the EU that allowed EU fishing boats to retain much of the access they had when the UK was a member. This is how Toby Helm wrote it up for the Observer at the time. It is worth pointing out that if, as the Scottish Tories claim, fishermen have been betrayed today, it is just an extension of the original betrayal they suffered at the hands of the last Conservative government. Angus Robertson, cabinet secretary for constitution, external affairs and culture in the SNP Scottish government, has posted this on social media about the fishing aspect of the EU-UK deal UK Govt has agreed a fisheries (devolved) deal with EU in principle, without any recourse, involvement or approval of Devolved Admins. Scottish Government received no documentation or draft proposals in advance. I asked UK minister last week for this. Nothing received. Reset? This is from Joe Barnes, the Telegraph’s Brussels correspondent, on the deal. Brexit reset deal - Fishing access until 2038 SPS, no time limits on dynamic alignment CBAM and ETS is dynamic alignment No youth mobility deal, but a promise to revisit at a later under agreed parameters, including rejoining Erasmus. CBAM is the carbon border adjustment mechanism and the ETS is the emissions trading scheme. Q: Will the UK be able to influence EU rules on food standards under this deal, as Jonathan Reynolds implied? (See 8.27am.) Kallas says the there have been extensive talks about food standards. But she says the UK decided to be outside the EU, and outside the EU it does not have the same influence as countries that are inside, she says. Kaja Kallas, the EU’s foreign affairs chief, is being interviewed on the Today programme now by Anna Foster. Foster asks her if she will confirm the 12-year fishing deal figure Kallas says Keir Starmer, Ursula von der Leyen and António Costa will confirm the details later. But deals have two sides, she says. Nick Robinson puts it to Reynolds that a 12-year fishing deal would be longer than anyone was expecting. The fishing industry, which believes the EU’s current access rights to UK waters are already too generous and wants them cut back, are bound to object. Reynolds won’t confirm the 12-year figure. But he says there is a good case for moving away from having annual negotiations over fishing (which was supposed to be the process from 2026, under the original post-Brexit deal negotiated by Boris Johnson) to having a system with more “consistency”. Chris Mason, the BBC political editor, tells the Today programme that he has been told a fishing deal with the EU has been agreed for 12 years. But he says the agrifoods deal that has been agreed, reducing checks on UK products going to the EU, is not subject to a time limit. Mason says he has been told the details of the youth mobility scheme have still not been finalised. Q: Will the UK now be subject to EU rules? Reynolds says he would push back against that. He says UK and EU rules are currently aligned. If EU rules were to change, the UK would want a say in shaping them. Q: How would that happen? Non-EU states do not get a say on EU laws. Reynolds says parliament would want a say. He cites Norway as an example of a non-EU country that gets to have a say in the EU rules it has to follow. Jonathan Reynolds is now being interviewed on the Today programme by Nick Robinson. Q: Is it as simple as this – the UK wants to sell more to the EU, and they want to catch more fish in UK waters? Reynolds says there is a bit more to it than than. But he says the deal is about making people better off, and improving market access. And market access is important to the fishing industry too, he says. He says they sell 70% of their products to the EU. Q: You are signing away fishing rights for 10 years? Reynolds says the current fishing agreement, giving the EU access to UK waters, runs until 2026. Q: After that talks were supposed to be annual. Have you extended the deal now for 10 years? Reynolds ducks the question. Robinson presses him again. Q: Will EU trawlers have access to UK waters for another 10 years? Reynolds says the previous government conceded the access point. And he says having to renegotiate fishing rights every year would not be practical. In an interview with Times Radio this morning Jonathan Reynolds, the business secretary, did not deny a suggestion that the youth mobility scheme with the EU, that is expected to be part of the deal being announced today, might be capped at around 45,000. When this figure was put to him, he replied: I’m not going to confirm anything until that deal is officially done, because it’s obviously very sensitive. But he said the similar youth mobility schemes that the UK has with other countries are capped. He said: If you look at the 13 we already have, they are capped, yes. So I think the Conservative deal with Australia capped it at 45,000, but nothing like that number of visas is ever issued every year. He also said these schemes were “fundamentally different to what we experienced when we had freedom of movement when we were in the EU”. Downing Street sources are confirming that a deal has been done, Jessica Elgot reports. She says the EU has also dropped its demand for the extension of the current fishing deal (agreed by Boris Johnson as part of the original post-Brexit deal – and widely seen as generous to the EU) to be pegged to the length of the deal for agrifoods. (See 6.40am.) Good morning. I’m Andrew Sparrow, picking up from Yohnannes Lowe. Jonathan Reynolds, the business secretary, is giving interviews this morning saying that the post-Brexit reset deal between the UK and the EU has not been finally agreed (see 7.37am), but he’s just being pedantic. It all seems sorted. It just has not been formally announced yet. Here is the timetable for how the day will unfold. 10.15am: Keir Starmer and other leaders arrive for the EU-UK summit at Lancaster House. On the UK side the lead participants are Starmer, David Lammy, the foreign secretary, and Nick Thomas-Symonds, the Cabinet Office minister in charge of post-Brexit relations with the EU. On the EU side, the lead partiicpants are Ursula von der Leyen, the European Commission president, António Costa, president of the European Council, Kaja Kallas, the EU’s foreign affairs chief, and Maroš Šefčovič, the European commissioner responsible for post-Brexit relations with the UK. 12.30pm: Starmer, von der Leyen and Costa hold press conference. After 3.30pm: A ministerial statement is expected in the Commons. As we have been reporting, the “core details” of a reset deal between the UK and EU were agreed in the early hours, though the final touches appear to still be being worked out. The deal covers areas such as defence, trade, fishing, and a possible youth mobility scheme that could allow British and European 18- to 30-year-olds to travel freely around Europe under certain conditions. In an interview with Sky News this morning, the UK’s trade secretary Jonathan Reynolds said the deal has not been finalised, with issues over agricultural products and e-gates remaining sticking points in the negotiations. He said: Nothing on these deals is sorted until it all gets sorted. There’s a deal to be done here, we’ve always said that. There are real benefits to the UK which are on offer on sorting this out, because there are massive gaps that we have with the EU at the moment. “There is not currently a deal agreed at this point,” Reynolds added. We expect an announcement on defence and security later today, which could see the UK get access to a £125bn EU defence fund - a boost for UK defence companies. The fund has taken on a new sense of urgency since Donald Trump re-entered the White House in January as the US president has signalled that America will no longer be the primary guarantor of European security. My colleagues Jennifer Rankin and Jessica Elgot have a little more detail about the fund in this story. Here is an extract from it: The SAFE fund would allow EU member states to take out loans to buy up to €150bn of air and missile defence systems, ammunition, drones and other military kit. It was proposed by the commission in March, as part of a drive to increase European defence spending by €800bn amid deep shock at Donald Trump’s rush to offer concessions to Vladimir Putin in a bid to end Russia’s war on Ukraine. Reflecting the influence of the French president, Emmanuel Macron, the fund has a “buy European” rule meaning that components from non-EU countries can only make up 35% of the cost of any project. That restriction is relaxed for Ukraine and any country with a defence and security partnership with the EU. Talks between the UK and EU over a significant reset to relations achieved a last-minute breakthrough overnight, believed to be about fishing rights. However there are still some steps to be taken, reports the Guardian’s political editor, Pippa Crerar. The talks were taking place over the weekend ahead of a key summit in London hosted by Keir Starmer with EU leaders on Monday, which is aimed at resetting the UK’s relationship with the bloc five years after Brexit. The talks were aimed at striking a deal to be signed at the summit and had gone down to the wire to resolve squabbling over long-standing issues, including fishing rights and a youth mobility scheme. It is understood a breakthrough was made over fishing rights. “The EU was insisting the government offer long-term access to British waters, beyond four-year deal proposed by UK, and was pushing for double-digit extension,” reports Pippa Crerar. “Brussels had linked fishing with agreement to drop checks and bureaucracy around sale of food, animal & other agricultural products, known as sanitary and phytosanitary goods (SPS). EU had suggested this should be pegged to same timescale as fish.” An agreement would mark a symbolic step in turning the page on the animosity that followed Britain’s exit from the bloc in January 2020. No 10’s decision to issue a press statement on Saturday presenting the summit as a done deal caused irritation in Brussels, prompting some to recall the mantra of Brexit negotiations: “Nothing is agreed until everything is agreed.”
Author: Andrew Sparrow (now); Yohannes Lowe and Helen Livingstone (earlier)