Renewed ties with EU needed to boost UK security and economy, says Starmer
The economic and security benefits of a closer relationship with the EU are “simply too big to ignore”, Keir Starmer has told parliament as the British government prepares for more rapid alignment with European rules.Updating MPs on the Iran conflict and his visit to the Gulf last week, the prime minister was explicit about what he argued was the need for renewed ties with Europe given the chaotic global situation and Donald Trump’s unpredictable US administration.The Guardian revealed that ministers were planning to use so-called Henry VIII powers to dynamically align with EU rules by default, including the adoption of changed EU single market rules without full parliamentary scrutiny each time.Setting out what he said were the lessons of the Iran crisis, Starmer said that after Brexit, Covid and the Ukraine war the idea of a global shock to UK living standards was no longer “a novel experience”, and that lessons should be learned.This time, he argued, the response “must and will be different to reflect the changing world that we live in”, saying this included efforts to reduce energy bills.
He went on: “Looking forward, it also means a closer economic relationship with our European allies, because Brexit did deep damage to the economy, and the opportunities we now have to strengthen our security and cut the cost of living are simply too big to ignore,”In his Commons statement, Starmer condemned as “wrong” continued Israeli strikes on Lebanon after a ceasefire was agreed over the USand Israelwar on Iran, while warning that Iran’s blockading of the strait of Hormuz was “causing untold economic damage”,The UK would play no part in planned attempts by the US to mount a counter-blockade of the strait, he added,Questioned by MPs about Trump’s pre-ceasefire threat last week that that Iran’s “whole civilisation will die” if Tehran did not comply with his demands, Starmer condemned the US president’s words,“Could I really be clear with this house that that was wrong,” he said.
“A threat to Iranian civilians in that way is wrong.These are civilians, let’s remember, who suffered immeasurable harm by the regime in Iran for many, many, long years.”Starmer’s very clear call for closer EU links has opened up a greater divide with the Conservatives and Reform UK, who have both condemned the plans for alignment-by-default, details of which will come in a bill to be presented in next month’s King’s speech.The Conservatives’ shadow business secretary, Andrew Griffith, said Starmer was unable to accept the decision of the 2016 referendum, with parliament “reduced to a spectator while Brussels sets the terms”.Speaking at a press conference in Westminster, Nigel Farage, the Reform UK leader, said Starmer wanted to create closer links with “a declining part of the global economy”.
Asked about the plans, Farage said: “To tie ourselves ever closer to it makes no sense in economic terms.In democratic terms, it is a total betrayal of the Brexit vote 10 years ago, and it is also a complete breach of the Labour manifesto and a further devaluation of parliament.”But speaking to the BBC on Monday morning, Starmer argued that opponents of the plans needed to recognise that the world had changed.“I think it’s also a sense, 10 years on from the Brexit referendum, that we’ve got to look forward now, not backwards,” the prime minister said.“Let’s not just have all the old arguments of the last decade.
“Let’s go forward and recognise that a stronger, closer relationship with Europe is in the UK’s best interest, particularly in a world that is as volatile as it is.”Under the proposed bill, ministers are planning to argue that the move will add billions to the UK economy, temper the cost of the Iran conflict and boost sluggish productivity.The Guardian understands that if the bill – expected to be introduced before the summer – is passed, negotiators could seek to adopt EU rules on everything from cars to farming using secondary legislation.Parliament can either approve or reject secondary legislation but cannot amend it, which would probably mean MPs will “rubber-stamp” new deals rather than debate and vote on every one.Any blocking votes would be likely to cause issues with the EU, and could prompt retaliatory action.
A source said: “We are clear parliament will have a role for new deals and on new EU laws applying under those deals.”New polling for More in Common has found many Britons are reconsidering the UK’s relationship with the EU in light of the Iran war.The research found a clear majority supported closer UK–EU ties across most areas tested, with two-thirds supporting a closer relationship on trade (66%) and on security and defence (63%).The polling of 2,009 people found that if there was a referendum on EU membership tomorrow, half would vote remain, 27% would vote leave, 12% would not vote, and 11% did not know how they would vote.Brexit would only win among over-75s and nearly a quarter (23%) of past leave voters would support a referendum on rejoining.
What is the new EU bill and could it give UK ministers Henry VIII-type powers?
Ministers in Britain are planning a new bill that would bring into force a food and drink trade deal with the EU but also contain powers enabling the government to “dynamically align” with Europe. It would allow the UK to quickly implement evolving single market rules if it determines it is in the national interest, without having to face full parliamentary scrutiny.Keir Starmer has made it clear he wants the UK to go much further in terms of the economic relationship with the EU.A summit is planned for early summer with Brussels, which Starmer has stated he hopes will go further than the deal struck last year at Lancaster House that covered food and drink imports, as well as plans for emissions trading and electricity.To implement the food and drink deal, the government will introduce a bill with a so-called “dynamic alignment mechanism” that will allow the government to align UK standards as the EU evolves its own rules
UK will not join any Trump blockade of strait of Hormuz
The UK will not be involved in any blockade of the strait of Hormuz, the Guardian understands, after claims by Donald Trump on Sunday that the US would be blockading the waterway with the assistance of Nato allies.Speaking to Fox News, Trump said “it won’t take long to clean out the strait” and claimed “numerous countries are going to be helping us”, adding that the UK and other nations were sending minesweepers.The UK has previously suggested it could play a role in making the strait of Hormuz safe to pass, and it has mine-hunting systems and anti-drone capabilities already in the region.But there have been concerns in Whitehall that complying with Trump’s demand to send ships could escalate the crisis. The UK’s willingness to consider a role in mine-removal operations is seen as distinct from Trump’s blockade proposal
Britain could adopt single market rules without MPs’ vote as part of UK-EU reset
Ministers are planning to fundamentally reshape Britain’s relationship with the European Union, with new legislation that could result in the UK signing up to EU single market rules without a normal parliamentary vote.In a major development in the prime minister’s push for closer ties with the continent after the Iran war, the Guardian understands ministers are bracing to face down opposition to “dynamic alignment” with the EU from those who “scream treason” over the powers in a new EU-UK reset bill.After weeks of Donald Trump’s war with Iran that have exposed the fragility of the UK’s damaged special relationship with the US, ministers argue the move will add billions to the UK economy, help temper the cost of the conflict and boost sluggish productivity.A new bill, which will bring into force the food and drink trade deal with the EU, will contain powers enabling the government to dynamically align with Europe on areas where it has already made agreements. But it will also allow the UK to quickly implement evolving single market rules if it determines it is in the national interest, without having to face full parliamentary scrutiny each time
Reform UK’s ugly response to slavery reparations claims | Letters
It is not necessary to agree with the slavery reparations movement in order to see through the crude and threadbare logic of Zia Yusuf’s tirade against it (Reform UK would stop visas for people from countries seeking slavery reparations, 7 April). Britain’s prominent role in ending the slave trade and subsequently slavery neither absolves its involvement in those enterprises nor erases their effects. Endless reiteration of it does, however, encourage a sentimental attachment to a single, insular version of history.Similarly, to claim that advocates for reparations are using history “as a weapon to drain our treasury” is a wilful misrepresentation, designed to jolt the indignant reflexes of Reform UK supporters too lazy to engage with extensive argument.But the ugly coup de grace in Yusuf’s diatribe is his willingness to demonise whole populations whose governments have the audacity to question historical narrative or to possess opinions built on principle – a crime so heinous that it deserves the denial of visas for entry to Britain
Sorry, Keir Starmer, but pensioners don’t feel better off under this government | Letter
For the most part in his recent article (Workers, pensioners and children: all better off. Ignore the critics – we really are standing up for working people, 5 April), Keir Starmer rightly flags up the introduction of policies supporting the less well off in this society. However, I believe it was an ill-considered move to include the statement about increasing the state pension. As a pensioner I am not seeing a straightforward improvement and instead seeing a policy that is reducing the benefit of those increases.The triple lock, established by a Conservative–Liberal Democrat government in 2010, was designed to ensure that pensioners who had made tax and national insurance contributions throughout their working lives did not see their pension watered down
Votes for populist parties in May elections will put NHS at risk, Streeting says
Voters in May’s local and devolved elections risk putting the NHS in jeopardy if they vote for populist parties, Wes Streeting has said, as he sought to make the health service a key battleground.“The founding principles of the NHS are at greater threat than at any time since the NHS was founded in 1948,” the health secretary said.He warned that there was “a particular jeopardy” for the NHS in Wales, where Labour faces electoral wipeout at the hands of Reform UK and Plaid Cymru, with the latter pitching itself to voters as the best “stop Reform” option.Streeting called Labour’s progressive rivals “rookies” and said he “refuse[d] to believe that many people in Wales would vote for Reform if they knew where Nigel Farage stood on the NHS”.Streeting argued that the NHS in Scotland was weaker after almost two decades of SNP governance, while in England Labour-run councils would work more efficiently with Labour in government
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