As far as I can see the ‘trade deal’ announced yesterday with the EU amounts to an agreement to begin negotiations. It used to be the case that nations announced trade deals that provided the full detailed text from day one. Now, it's all PR work and hype. Simon Usherwood from UK in a Changing Europe has published a simple guide to the deal and you can see the only things finalised are the Security and Defence agreement and EU boats getting access to British waters until 2038, a 12 year extension to the one that Johnson and Frost negotiated. Everything else is 'exploring possibilities' or 'more negotiation.' The actual text hasn’t been published so many commentators are cautiously optimistic but reserving judgement for the time being.
Farage and the Tories are, naturally, up in arms with cries of betrayal in the air. Boris Johnson, adopting his usual typical OTT style says Starmer is now “the orange ball-chewing manacled gimp of Brussels” adding:
“Most bizarrely of all he has agreed that Britain will once again be paying countless millions of pounds into EU coffers – for the privilege of becoming the non-voting punk of the EU Commission!”
Insulting though it is, Johnson has a point. Britain will have to “accept EU law on a host of measures from food standards to emissions trading,” he said. “We will have to accept whatever changes the EU decides to make to those laws.
“We will have to accept the rulings of the European Court of Justice in the definition and enforcement of those laws. We will therefore lose our freedom to innovate in areas such as gene editing and much more besides.”
Johnson is so deluded he even thinks it was the EU calling for a reset!! Apparently, Brussels was so desperate to get its hands on our fish! I think the first mention of a ‘reset’ in the relationship came on pages 121 of Labour’s 2024 manifesto, which promised:
"We will reset the relationship and seek to deepen ties with our European friends, neighbours and allies." And this:
"Labour will work to improve the UK’s trade and investment relationship with the EU, by tearing down unnecessary barriers to trade. We will seek to negotiate a veterinary agreement to prevent unnecessary border checks and help tackle the cost of food; will help our touring artists; and secure a mutual recognition agreement for professional qualifications to help open up markets for UK service exporters.
"Labour will seek an ambitious new UK-EU security pact to strengthen co-operation on the threats we face."
This is democracy at work. A party set out its plans. The people voted for it. I don't think the EU helped write Labour's election pledges although many on the right are so far down the rabbit hole they seem to think it did. There is no betrayal here.
Nevertheless, the right-wing media is suffering a collective nervous breakdown, sub-editors vying with each other to come up with the most blood-curdling headline. The reset being a “betrayal” is among the more milder versions. Andrew Neil has taken to the pages of The Daily Mail to condemn his country of residence for reasons that I really cannot understand. The French should throw him out.
Richard Littlejohn mostly lives in a gated mansion in Florida. Andrew Neil mostly lives in Grasse in the South of France.— Otto English (@ottoenglish.bsky.social) 19 May 2025 at 23:01
This is the reason why Starmer has been forced to adopt the ridiculous contortions over Brexit that he has. No return to FoM (but a youth mobility scheme is OK even desirable, as is the recognition of professional qualifications). Membership of the single market? Never. But following EU rules over which we have no influence is fine. It isn't rational.
We have had five years to think about where we need to diverge and where that could benefit the UK, including four years under successive Tory prime ministers, and we have come up with nothing significant. That’s the truth. Even Jacob Rees-Mogg, the Brexiteer’s Brexiteer, arch Eurosceptic and Brussels’ nemesis was forced to ask readers of The Sun for ideas! Unsurprisingly, they couldn’t help either.
Badenoch says the UK is becoming a ruler taker:
carp-ing from the sidelines— Jim Pickard (@pickardje.bsky.social) 19 May 2025 at 09:04
In theory, we could have ditched all retained EU law but we didn’t. Why? Because almost all of it was desirable, useful, popular and anyway, repealing it all would have caused havoc, further damaged trade with the EU and cost a fortune to replicate. If we aren’t going to diverge (and note Johnson and co make no specific proposals) we are ipso facto, a rule-taker, binding ourselves to EU but gaining no advantage from doing so.
Britain is too small and insignificant to become a ruler maker. And if you aren’t a rule maker in a globalised world of rules, you are automatically a rule-taker.
The government's press release sets out officially for the first time, the damage that Brexit has caused to our external trade:
Just read these quotes:
The 'reset' will:
"Make it easier for food and drink to be imported and exported by reducing the red tape that placed burdens on businesses and led to lengthy lorry queues at the border."
"Some routine checks on animal and plant products will be removed completely, allowing goods to flow freely again, including between Great Britain and Northern Ireland. Ultimately this could lower food prices and increase choice on supermarket shelves – meaning more money in people’s pockets."
"After the 21% drop in exports and 7% drop in imports seen since Brexit, the UK will also be able to sell various products, such as burgers and sausages, back into the EU again, supporting these vital British industries."
"Closer co-operation on emissions through linking our respective Emissions Trading Systems will improve the UK’s energy security and avoid businesses being hit by the EU’s carbon tax due to come in next year – which would have sent £800 million directly to the EU’s budget."
"The UK will enter talks about access to EU facial images data for the first time, on top of the existing arrangements for DNA, fingerprint and vehicle registration data. This will enhance our ability to catch dangerous criminals and ensure they face justice more quickly."
"British holidaymakers will be able to use more eGates in Europe, ending the dreaded queues at border control. Pets will also be able to travel more easily, with the introduction of ‘pet passports’ for UK cats and dogs – eliminating the need for animal health certificates for every trip."
It is all very welcome, of course but adding £9 billion to UK GDP by 2040 is a small fraction of what Brexit has cost us. The OBR forecasts a loss of 4% of GDP by 2035, which is well north of £100 billion in a £2.85 trillion (2024) economy. £9 billion is about 0.36%.
The reset is the first step back on the road to rejoining the EU, but there are many more ahead.
