Keir Starmer is jetting off once again—this time to Brussels on Monday—to meet with all 27 EU leaders as he edges the UK further down the path toward rejoining the bloc. He’s hoping to push for a UK-EU security pact, though as ever with Brussels, any deal comes with strings attached…
EU leaders are reportedly gearing up to demand a major concession in return: a youth mobility scheme granting 18-to-30-year-olds the right to live and work in the UK. Germany’s ambassador to Britain, Miguel Berger, has already signalled that such a scheme would be “an important element” of any agreement. Labour has so far insisted it has “no plans” to sign up—though the EU’s trade chief has described it as a “bridge-building proposal.” Yet when pressed in Parliament, Labour minister Nick Thomas-Symonds pointedly refused to rule it out, dodging with: “I am not going to give a running commentary.” Shadow Home Secretary Chris Philp tells Guido:
“Starmer and his Government of lawyers never tire of finding new opportunities to negotiate away British interests – from the Chagos Islands to the EU Customs Union, everything is on the table with Starmer. The only people Starmer is tough with are UK workers, families, pensioners, farmers and businesses who he endlessly clobbers with job-destroying taxes and growth-killing regulations.”
Meanwhile according to Eurostat, in 2020 there were 73.6 million people aged 15-29 in the EU—more than the entire UK population. If Arch-Remainer Starmer bends the knee to the bloc, it would effectively be a return to free movement and a huge Brexit betrayal…
Sarah Pochin at Reform Scotland’s manifesto launch event: “I really wanted to come on in a Reform tartan burka, but apparently I wasn’t allowed… One day let’s do one of these events not live-streamed. We’ll do all the naughty stuff…”