Starmer's Brexit "deal"

First May, now Starmer. Whenever a Remainer strikes a "deal" with the EU, history shows the only winner is Brussels.

As Boris was quick to tweet today, ‘T𝘸𝘰-𝘵𝘪𝘦𝘳 𝘒𝘦𝘪𝘳 𝘪𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘰𝘳𝘢𝘯𝘨𝘦 𝘣𝘢𝘭𝘭-𝘤𝘩𝘦𝘸𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘮𝘢𝘯𝘢𝘤𝘭𝘦𝘥 𝘨𝘪𝘮𝘱 𝘰𝘧 𝘉𝘳𝘶𝘴𝘴𝘦𝘭𝘴.’

In just one afternoon, Keir Starmer has handed over our sovereignty in exchange for... well, it’s hard to say what exactly. Let’s break it down with some insights from the NCC:

Regulatory Alignment

The deal sees the UK aligning with EU regulations in areas like food standards and emissions trading. This so-called "dynamic alignment" effectively reduces Britain to a rule-taker—bound by EU laws with no say in their creation.

London and SE co-ordinator Marco Bocci points out that while UK exporters into the EU may now avoid the Brussels' carbon border tax, he doubts "𝘪𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘺 𝘭𝘦𝘧𝘵 𝘧𝘰𝘭𝘭𝘰𝘸𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘢𝘮𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘱𝘢𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘬 𝘳𝘦𝘲𝘶𝘪𝘳𝘦𝘥. 𝘉𝘶𝘺𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘤𝘢𝘳𝘣𝘰𝘯 𝘤𝘦𝘳𝘵𝘪𝘧𝘪𝘤𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘯𝘦𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘴𝘱𝘦𝘯𝘥 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘦𝘹𝘱𝘰𝘳𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘪𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘪𝘯𝘯𝘢𝘤𝘭𝘦 𝘰𝘧 𝘴𝘰𝘤𝘪𝘢𝘭𝘪𝘴𝘵 𝘯𝘰𝘯𝘴𝘦𝘯𝘴𝘦. 𝘞𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘭𝘥 𝘢𝘴 𝘸𝘦𝘭𝘭 𝘤𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘵𝘦 𝘢 𝘷𝘪𝘳𝘵𝘶𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘶𝘯𝘭𝘪𝘮𝘪𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘢𝘮𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘱𝘢𝘱𝘦𝘳𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘬 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘌𝘜 𝘦𝘹𝘱𝘰𝘳𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘴 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘜𝘒 𝘰𝘯𝘭𝘺 𝘵𝘰 𝘰𝘧𝘧𝘦𝘳 '𝘦𝘹𝘦𝘮𝘱𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯' 𝘢𝘴 𝘢 𝘣𝘢𝘳𝘨𝘢𝘪𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘤𝘩𝘪𝘱. "

And as Brussels does what Brussels does best—churning out endless regulation—we will be forced to implement a stream of new laws without proper debate or scrutiny. What, then, is the point of Parliament?

With a Reform government looking more likely, one suspects Keir is trying to lock us into the EU’s orbit before his majority is obliterated in 2029. This permanent alignment with a socialist bloc shackles our ability to diverge and innovate—precisely what Brexit was meant to secure.

Fishing

EU access to UK waters will continue until at least 2038. This is nothing short of a full-scale betrayal of our fishing industry, which rightly expected full control over our national waters post-Brexit.

Migration and “Youth Mobility”

Keir has also signed the UK up to a "Youth Mobility" scheme. While framed as a vehicle for “cultural exchange,” the scheme has no cap on numbers. In practice, this is freedom of movement by the back door.

Defence

The deal deepens defence cooperation with the EU, including possible participation in EU defence funds—without any guarantees for contracts benefitting our own defence industry.

As the EU moves steadily toward its own army, there is a genuine risk that Starmer could one day place British troops under an EU flag.

Chairman Andrew Withers summarises it clearly: “𝘏𝘦 𝘩𝘢𝘴 𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘦𝘥 𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘳 𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘢𝘳𝘮𝘦𝘥 𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘤𝘦𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘯𝘶𝘤𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘳 𝘶𝘮𝘣𝘳𝘦𝘭𝘭𝘢 𝘵𝘰 𝘝𝘰𝘯 𝘋𝘦𝘳 𝘓𝘦𝘺𝘦𝘯 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘴𝘩𝘰𝘳𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘲𝘶𝘦𝘶𝘦𝘴 𝘸𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘸𝘦 𝘨𝘰 𝘰𝘯 𝘩𝘰𝘭𝘪𝘥𝘢𝘺. 𝘐𝘧 𝘸𝘦 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘣𝘦 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘮𝘦𝘳𝘤𝘦𝘯𝘢𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘴, 𝘐 𝘸𝘢𝘯𝘵 𝘢 𝘩𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘱𝘳𝘪𝘤𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵."

Surveillance

The UK will begin talks on accessing the EU’s facial recognition databases for the first time. Downing Street claims this will help catch “dangerous criminals.”

How nice then that we’re co-operating with Brussels on building a pan-European Surveillance State.

There is, apparently, a “win” in the form of British holidaymakers being allowed to use e-gates at European airports—though even this doesn’t take effect until some unknown future date.

Party Secretary Martin Day delivered a scathing verdict:

“T𝘰𝘥𝘢𝘺 𝘪𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘥𝘢𝘺 𝘓𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘳𝘪𝘥𝘪𝘤𝘶𝘭𝘦𝘥 𝘥𝘦𝘮𝘰𝘤𝘳𝘢𝘤𝘺 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘰𝘧𝘧𝘪𝘤𝘪𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘺 𝘳𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘴𝘦𝘥 𝘉𝘳𝘦𝘹𝘪𝘵. 𝘞𝘦 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘤𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘢 𝘨𝘦𝘯𝘦𝘳𝘢𝘭 𝘦𝘭𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘯𝘰𝘸 𝘵𝘰 𝘷𝘰𝘵𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘴𝘦 𝘱𝘦𝘰𝘱𝘭𝘦 𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘈𝘚𝘈𝘗— 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘺 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘣𝘦𝘵𝘳𝘢𝘺𝘦𝘥 17.4 𝘮𝘪𝘭𝘭𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘱𝘦𝘰𝘱𝘭𝘦.”

He added: “W𝘩𝘦𝘯 𝘏𝘢𝘮𝘢𝘴 𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘶𝘤𝘬, 𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘋𝘦𝘢𝘳 𝘓𝘦𝘢𝘥𝘦𝘳 𝘒𝘦𝘪𝘳 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘮𝘪𝘴𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘳𝘦𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘴𝘢𝘶𝘴𝘢𝘨𝘦𝘴. 𝘐𝘵'𝘴 𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘵 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘰𝘯𝘭𝘺 𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘮𝘪𝘴𝘦 𝘩𝘦 𝘩𝘢𝘴 𝘬𝘦𝘱𝘵 𝘴𝘪𝘯𝘤𝘦 𝘣𝘦𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘦𝘭𝘦𝘤𝘵𝘦𝘥.”

Starmer has given away the army, the borders, the waters, and the laws - just so we can scan our passports faster.

He hasn't renegotiated Brexit. He's gift-wrapped it and sent it back.