“This is a total betrayal. We were promised our waters back, and now Starmer’s rolled over and handed them straight to the French for over a decade. It’s like Brexit never happened. He’s sold us out to Brussels just to please his Eurocrat mates.”
In a bombshell Brexit backslide, Keir Starmer has handed European fishermen access to British waters for a staggering 12 years as part of his so-called “reset” deal with Brussels.
The Labour leader has agreed to a “fish for food” pact that gifts EU trawlers rights to UK fishing grounds until 2038, in exchange for a veterinary deal aimed at smoothing trade—but at a high price to British sovereignty.
The controversial deal will see Britain align with EU plant and animal health laws and accept the jurisdiction of the European Court of Justice over these rules, despite having no say in their creation.
The EU’s 27 ambassadors signed off the sweeping agreement in Brussels, ahead of a high-stakes UK-EU summit in London today, where Starmer will appear alongside European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen to unveil the new arrangement.
France’s Emmanuel Macron led a hardline push for the EU to extract last-minute concessions on fish. Brussels initially demanded that the veterinary deal, modelled on Switzerland’s, should only last as long as the fishing rights. But Britain caved, and the EU won its prize: a permanent Swiss-style veterinary agreement, with no expiry date.
In return, EU vessels will be free to exploit British waters until 2038, a dramatic shift from the current post-Brexit deal which expires next year and allowed for five years of shared access.
British negotiators had initially offered a mere four years of access and hoped to return to annual negotiations. But sources say a tense late-night showdown saw UK officials concede to the EU’s demand for a 12-year term, giving Brussels a win on the eve of the summit.
The veterinary agreement removes red tape and border checks on agrifood but comes at the cost of Britain having to mirror EU laws indefinitely, without any influence in shaping them. The European Court of Justice will have the final say on any disputes.
Despite promises to take back control, Britain is now locked into EU regulations once more, and this time, it’s permanent thanks to Starmer’s dreadful negotiating.
A furious UK fisherman from Cornwall told the Post:
“This is a total betrayal. We were promised our waters back, and now Starmer’s rolled over and handed them straight to the French for over a decade. It’s like Brexit never happened. He’s sold us out to Brussels just to please his Eurocrat mates.”
Starmer’s latest climbdown has sparked fierce criticism from Brexiteers, with fears mounting that Labour’s so-called “reset” is nothing less than a quiet reversal of Brexit itself.
Badenoch has said Tories will quit any deal. Farage will probably do the same, but he might want to wait until in power to announce it for fear of upsetting remoaner voters.