The Times reported last night that Government ministers are considering a plan to allow Europeans under 30-years-old to live and work in the UK as part of Labour’s crusade to “reset” post-Brexit relations with Brussels. Meanwhile, net migration is still four times higher than in 2019, even without this proposed scheme in place. Whilst free movement for young people itself isn’t such a terrible idea, it’s just another sign of Labour’s intentions to cosy up to the EU. This could just be the beginning of further cross-border movement talks…

Labour have denied the reports, slippery stating they have “no plans” (yet?) to agree a youth mobility scheme, though government sources say something has to give on free movement if Labour are set on redrawing agreements on trade, defence and immigration. As Guido has said before, give and take means give and take…

Starmer might be plotting a ‘reset’ in UK-EU relations, but top economists are sounding the alarm, urging him to reject the siren calls to rejoin the EU, Single Market, or Customs Union. The real key to growth is in harnessing the benefits of Brexit: redefining regulations and strike better trade deals outside the bloc…

A report from the Centre for Policy Studies today notes that strengthening ties with Brussels is far from the solution to the UK’s growth challenges. Despite this, Starmer said he wants to negotiate an agri-food agreement with the EU to ease border checks, a move that would inevitably require alignment with EU rules, as well as abolishing the decades-old  European Scrutiny Committee. Meanwhile, while the Euro area remains the main source of weakness in manufacturing as the UK surges, and UK’s GDP is expected to grow by 07.% in Q2, while the Eurozone only grew by 0.3%. If Labour is truly “pro-growth,” Starmer would be wise to remember the EU isn’t where he’ll find it…

Labour’s path on the EU is going as expected. The FT reports this morning that the EU Relations Minister Nick Thomas-Symonds’ meetings with bloc officials have so far managed to produce a list of “tough” demands for the UK to follow. Crawling back to the EU comes with a price tag…

The commission accuses the UK of failing to implement the Windsor Framework properly and demands a huge increase in checks and stoppages for veterinary items and flora crossing the Irish Sea. The UK is also commanded to prevent EU citizens’ being forced to make a separate settled status application after living in the UK for five years. Meanwhile the bloc is continuing with its 4-year-old legal case against the UK for the way it carried out the transition period. So much for that Starmer good will…

Labour is making obsequious noises on their EU ‘reset’, like claiming that it is open to sending the Elgin Marbles to Athens, but the bloc obviously wants more. A free movement deal for young people, access to territorial fishing waters, and rejoining the Erasmus scheme are on the top of the list. Summits and nice statements were never going to cut the mustard…

European politicians are already pouncing on Starmer’s obvious bid to tighten the UK’s ties with the EU. Germany’s ambassador to the UK, Miguel Berger, has come out saying that London and Brussels should ink a massive security pact, encompassing everything from farming regulations to the Erasmus student exchange programme. Starmer’s pursuit of an EU-UK defence pact is clearly about more than just ‘defence’…

Berger’s call for cooperation on “areas which are in the common interest” signals that closer ties are imminent. This isn’t just idle chat. Foreign Secretary David Lammy has already said that Starmer’s proposed UK-EU defence pact should cover pandemics, migration, critical minerals, and decarbonisation. Starmer can expect that brokering a student-exchange deal while migration numbers soar will ruffle plenty of feathers among MPs. Ever on the path to re-join…

Friday saw the biggest IT meltdown in history: flights grounded, news channels off air, and people unable to make payments. Now it turns out the global economy took a nosedive because of… the EU…

The tech giant blamed a 2009 agreement with the European Commission which bullied Microsoft into allowing multiple security providers to install software. This prevented security changes that would have blocked the CrowdStrike update that led to the ‘digital pandemic’. Meanwhile, Apple kept the gates locked from other providers since 2020 – a move they managed by not bowing to EU demands. Union-wide disruption…

Starmer is this morning kicking off the fourth European Political Community (EPC) summit at Blenheim Palace. He has billed it as a friendly “reset” of UK/EU relations combined with talks to co-operate on migration. Like having migrants sent over from EU countries…

Labour is now briefing hard that it is “nowhere near” a re-negotiation. David Lammy said that it would be silly to argue Labour was heading down the rejoin path because they were only two weeks into government. No attempt to say he’s not trying to reverse Brexit…

Minister for the Constitution and European Union Relations Nick Thomas-Symonds has been busy this week going for meeting with EU officials to push forward that very same “re-negotiation“. The government has strong commitments to “dynamic alignment” (rule-taking) with the EU on regulatory grounds while pushing for a defence pact that would destroy the current flexible ad hoc arrangement the UK currently enjoys. Cosying up is all well and good, soon enough the EU is going to start talking concessions…