The ever-diligent EU has brewed up yet another baffling regulation—this time declaring caffeine “harmful to humans if swallowed” after the European Commission banned its use in pesticides over supposed health risks to people’s hydration, body temperature and anxiety. Starmer might find a health warning slapped on his flat white next time he jets off for a cosy catch up with Macron…
Meanwhile, Starmer caved to Brussels yet again, bowing to demands on food safety alignment with the UK taking up ECJ jurisdiction. Brussels’ latest ban is yet another dose of the red tape Brexit was meant to bin—yet Starmer’s doing his best to drag us back into the bureaucratic farce. Time to wake up and smell the coffee…
Starmer’s 92 EU surrender staff have been busy working on their path to steer Britain back to Brussels, with The Times reporting Labour plans to sign the UK up to an “Australian-style” Youth Mobility Scheme with the EU – reopening the door to free movement. Despite repeated assurances from the government that Britain wouldn’t join, Labour is preparing to let tens of thousands of 18-30-year-olds from the EU live and work here. Which obviously comes with concessions…
As Guido has said, this deal comes with a huge price tag. UK negotiators have reportedly caved to EU demands on food safety alignment and carbon “cap and trade” allowances – all under the jurisdiction of the European Court of Justice. Cue more Brussels red tape and tighter restrictions on key innovations such as genetic modification in agriculture something Defra secretary Steve Reed gave the green light on just months ago. The EU is also pushing hard for a cave-in on fishing rights. Shadow home secretary Chris Philp tells Guido:
“This would be a complete capitulation. Submitting to the jurisdiction of the European Court of Justice and accepting EU regulations, while having no say whatsoever over those regulations, makes no sense. We should continue using our freedoms outside the EU to strike new trade deals and lighten regulatory burdens on industry, not adopt stifling EU regulations that stymie growth. We would also have no control whatsoever over how these regulations change in the future. And knowing the EU, these would likely only get more and more restrictive on business over time. This will be the final nail in the coffin for any hope of growth under Labour.”
Labour’s road to rejoin is well underway…
UPDATE: Matthew Lesh, Public Policy Fellow at the Institute of Economic Affairs said:
“Realigning EU standards would represent the worst of both worlds. Not only would Britain be forced to follow often cumbersome, disproportionate and excessively cautionary EU rules, but we would also get practically no say in their formulation and evolution. This alignment could severely restrict the UK’s ability to negotiate new trade agreements, notably with the United States, and might jeopardise existing deals with nations like Australia and New Zealand. We would have to undo changes to gene editing rules made by the last government, that have the potential to increase crop yields, reduce environmental impacts and get down prices for consumers. Then there would be the lost opportunities going forward to make Britian a hub for other food innovations, like cultivated meat.”
Jolyon’s Good Law Project is advertising for a new full-time position – an “EU Campaigns Lead” whose job description is pretty simple:
“The post-holder will develop the first stage of our work to create a campaign for Labour to commit to a referendum on rejoining the EU in its 2029 manifesto.”
For £60,000 a year Jolyon’s outfit is looking for someone who knows the “implications of Brexit” and has an “understanding of the opportunities and capabilities afforded by technology as a campaign tool.” That’s all in aid of the Good Law Project’s new goal – to stand candidates in a general election:
“You will recruit – and support – volunteer constituency organisers to build those lists. In constituencies where we are able to build high levels of support we may in 2029 stand candidates against sitting MPs who will not commit to a referendum.”
News that the GLP is turning into a political party will no doubt make a grand total of zero alarm bells ring in established parties’ headquarters. Now that Jolyon has mobilised the Good Law Project machine in favour of a new referendum co-conspirators can rest assured that campaign is well and truly dead. You don’t need a referendum to rejoin anyway – as Labour is striving to prove…
The EU’s top general Robert Brieger has suggested sending troops from the bloc to Greenland:
“In my view, it would make perfect sense not only to station US forces in Greenland, as has been the case to date, but also to consider stationing EU soldiers there in the future. That would send a strong signal and could contribute to stability in the region.”
The Danes last month boosted defence spending for the island and two weeks ago admitted they “have neglected for many years to make the necessary investments in ships and in aircraft that will help monitor our kingdom.“ It would be of little surprise if Danish troops were stationed on Greenland in the near future…
The UK and Denmark are very close defence partners with co-operation in the UK-led Joint Expeditionary Force and numerous additional bilateral ties. Among those is a commitment from a joint declaration in 2021 to deploy British troops to Danish territory in a “crisis“:
“The UK and Denmark will cooperate on and train Host Nation Support to ensure fast deployment of UK forces through Danish territory in case of crises.”
There is no small chance that Downing Street may be put into the awkward position of deciding whether to deploy British soldiers to Greenland on Denmark’s request, potentially to the ire of the Trump administration. Starmer’s cakeist positioning on the US and Europe would be put into sharp focus there…
As always with opinion polls, it’s all about the interpretation that’s put on top of the figures. So it was yet again with remainiac group Best for Britain, a serial offender in the dodgy polling stakes, who dropped an ‘MRP’ over the weekend claiming: “every constituency in Britain thinks the Government should prioritise trade with the EU over the USA and other countries”. Who’s funding this rubbish?
Leaving aside the dubious methodological approach for such an investigation, the other way of interpreting the poll’s findings is that more than half of those polled identified countries other than those in the EU or ‘don’t know’ as their top trading preference. Not exactly a ringing endorsement for Starmer’s renegotiation, which the poll is intended to prop up…
Indeed, in the majority of constituencies (577 out of 650) there was no majority preference for the EU as a top trading partner, with less than 50% of those polled supporting the idea. There’s an interesting distribution map though for the margin of preference for EU trade over the USA, revealing that SNP, Labour and Lib Dem hotspots in Scotland are the most America-hating areas when it comes to trade. Better not tell those nats that Scotland’s trade with the rest of the UK is worth three times the value of its trade with the EU…
On the final day of Davos European Central Bank president Christine Lagarde talked up the benefits of Trump’s election for the sluggish EU bloc. There are few…
Lagarde refused at a panel appeareance to mention Trump but said the bloc could take angry Trump-haters:
“We need to keep the talent at home. We need to keep the savings at home. Maybe it is also time to import a few of the talents that would be disenchanted, for one reason or the other, from another side of the sea.”
Most influential Democrats are non-fussed and staying in New York anyway. At the same time Lagarde admitted executives are “not very upbeat” about future growth this side of the pond and said the EU leaders needed to “actually get their act together.” Might not be a good idea to rely on upset Democrats for an entire continent’s growth…
Former leader of the SNP in Westminster Ian Blackford told Times Radio why he believes Nicola Sturgeon’s claim that she spent no time in the kitchen and therefore didn’t see any of her husband’s purchases:
“She doesn’t have a passion for cooking.”