British negotiators are locked in talks with EU counterparts over ‘outstanding issues’ with a landmark deal expected to be unveiled by Keir Starmer on Monday
British negotiators are locked in last ditch talks as a deal with the EU hit a series of snags.
Government officials are set to work through the night to iron out last minute problems ahead of a crunch summit in London. The agreement is expected to be unveiled on Monday, but was thrown into doubt as both sides got tough with each other.
A source said there were “outstanding issues” in the make-or-break talks, with conversations set to continue overnight. Insiders insisted the Government will only sign an agreement which is in the UK’s interests as it tries to improve on Boris Johnson’s botched Brexit deal.
Agreement still had not been reached despite “huge progress” being made, a source with knowledge of the negotiations said. Keir Starmer is set to host European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and European Council President Antonio Costa to discuss resetting the UK’s post-Brexit relations with the bloc.
The Government is confident the terms on the table are mutually beneficial, but the deal was not done hours ahead of the crucial meetings. The update came hours after Mr Starmer indicated a “step forward” was close.
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He said yesterday: “In the last two weeks, I’ve secured trade deals with India and the US that deliver for British people, British businesses, and British jobs. Tomorrow, we will take another step forward. Our Plan for Change in action.”
He said the agreement would be “good for our jobs, good for our bills and good for our borders”. The summit is expected to include an announcement that the UK will have access to a £125billion EU defence fund.
Mr Starmer is keen to beef up security and defence co-operation with Europe, which has become more urgent after Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine. Negotiators were also close to deals allowing British travellers to use e-gates at European airports.
There has also been progress on cutting red tape on food exports and imports, which have hampered businesses since Mr Johnson’s Brexit agreement. A youth mobility scheme, a reciprocal arrangement allowing 18 to 30 year olds to live in the EU, is also expected to be included in the announcement.
But Cabinet Office minister Nick Thomas-Symonds admitted final details were going “to the wire”. He told the BBC: “Nothing is agreed until everything is agreed.”
However he said he was “confident” that a deal could be reached for British citizens to use EU queues at airports once again. Travellers have endured misery crossing Europe’s borders since leaving the EU.
Mr Thomas-Symonds said: “We know we’ve had lorries waiting for 16 hours, fresh food in the back not able to be exported because frankly it’s just going off, red tape, all the certifications that are required, we absolutely want to reduce that.” He said a youth mobility scheme would have to be “smart and controlled”, with Britain keen to set a cap on numbers.
And he said the UK has been pushing “to make sure we get far easier trade” with the bloc, the country’s biggest trading partner. But Labour will have to contend with griping from the Tories and Reform UK, both of which have branded the agreement a “surrender” without seeing the detail.
Mr Thomas-Symonds rubbished claims the deal will be a Brexit “betrayal”. He said: “Whether it’s the Prime Minister, myself or the rest of the Government, we’ve moved on from the debates of the past.
“And my sense, going around the country, is the country has as well. This is about a hard-headed assessment of what is in the UK interest in the mid 2020s, not the debates of nine, nearly 10 years ago, for the referendum.”
They are particularly uneasy about the movement of young people. The UK already has similar schemes with Australia and Canada, with numbers limited and those who come to the UK requiring a visa.
But the terms of the youth mobility agreement with the EU have yet to be released. The Lib Dems backed a “capped youth mobility scheme”.
The party said the boost it gives to the economy could be enough to undo the decision to cap winter fuel payments for millions of pensioners. And Labour MP Emily Thornberry, who chairs the influential Foreign Affairs Committee, hit back at Nigel Farage’s criticism of the scheme.
She said: “There’s 13 of these youth mobility schemes already with the UK and the sky hasn’t fallen in, and I think youngsters in Britain would like to be able to travel in Europe and so it has to be reciprocal.”
But Tory Lord David Frost, who negotiated Britain’s exit from the EU, claimed the deal would be a “step back”.