A Labour leadership contest triggered now would delay the Brexit reset Sir Keir Starmer has made central to his efforts to remain Prime Minister, EU sources have warned.
One said plans for a UK-EU summit in the next two months to sign off deals on trade and youth mobility “would be tricky”, while another said uncertainty over who would be Prime Minister would likely stop the necessary trade-offs being made in negotiations to strike agreements.
Starmer has placed an increasing emphasis on his Brexit reset, pledging at a crunch speech on Monday to strike a so-called youth experience deal to allow under-30s to move more easily between the UK and EU. He also put new laws to make it easier to align with the single market at the heart of his King’s Speech on Wednesday.
But if Wes Streeting triggers a leadership contest on Thursday, Starmer faces fighting a battle to cling on to his job with his flagship EU project put on hold.
A second source said the EU would not make any concessions or trade-offs that the UK will need to strike the reset deals it wants with Starmer’s future in question.
“Brussels will not make a move without exploring the intentions of London, whoever resides in No 10,” the EU source said.
‘Hard to see why the EU should engage’
Former UK ambassador to France, Lord Ricketts, this week warned that it was “hard to see why the EU should engage on a further drive to get closer to the UK while the UK political landscape remains so unpredictable”.
A third EU source however insisted that until a contest is triggered Brussels would “keep working” towards reset deals.
Starmer had been hoping to tie up deals to ease food and drink trade, align carbon taxes which would help UK businesses, and create a UK-EU youth mobility scheme at a second reset summit between the two sides in June or July
Ahead of this, he used the King’s Speech on Wednesday to say his Government was “setting a new direction for Britain at the next EU summit” and “putting Britain at the heart of Europe”.
It included a new European Partnership Bill that would allow ministers to fast-track EU rules into law without giving MPs a vote, which the Government has argued is crucial for its plans to align with swathes of Brussels regulation to get access to the European single market, with deals to do so on food and drink and electricity being negotiated currently.
While the Bill is set to give Parliament “a say” in the new agreements, critics have warned that the powers laid out in the legislation will allow ministers to bypass a meaningful vote by MPs.
Government sources indicated that ministers were open to discussing different mechanisms to give Parliament a say when the legislation is brought to the Commons.
Food and drink deal would lower shopping bills
The British Chambers of Commerce (BCC) said a food and drink deal would help lower prices of household goods for shoppers.
William Bain, head of trade policy at the BCC, said: “A permanent deal with the EU can’t come soon enough for UK firms.
“In the talks ahead, ministers must deliver a deal that truly unburdens business and cuts costs.
“Consumers will then reap the benefits in their shopping baskets. Making trade with the EU quicker, cheaper and simpler is crucial to boosting economic growth in the years ahead.”
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