Fury erupts over fresh EU plot to reverse Brexit

Sir Keir Starmer and Ursula von der Leyen (Image: Getty Images)

Richard Tice has warned Sir Keir Starmer to stop his “pro-EU fantasies” and put the British people first.

His warning comes after Brexit nemesis Maros Sefcovic said Britain should join a pan-European agreement to bolster trade.

Mr Sefcovic, the official who led post-Brexit negotiations for the EU, told the BBC that the UK joining the Pan-Euro-Mediterranean Convention (PEM) is “something we could consider”.

The deal allows for tariff-free trade of goods across Europe, as well as some North African and Levantine nations.

Labour minister Matthew Pennycook said the Government was “not seeking” to participate in the PEM.

But the suggestion has set alarm bells ringing, especially as Sir Keir has made it his intention to seek closer ties with the EU.

Maros Sefcovic said the UK should consider joining the PEM (Image: AFP via Getty Images)

The Prime Minister is also expected to attend an EU leader’s summit next month.

Mr Tice, Reform UK’s deputy leader, said: “It’s obvious that Labour would rather cling on to their europhile tendencies over prioritising our closest allies."

Referring to new US president Donald Trump, he said: “We now have the most pro-British president for a long time and someone who is prepared to make a deal with the UK.

“Labour should cut their pro-EU fantasies and do what’s best for the British people – that’s ensuring a close relationship with the US.”

Some business groups have backed the UK joining the PEM because it would help to maintain complex supply chains. However, the previous Conservative government chose not to pursue it as part of a post-Brexit trade agreement.

Speaking to the BBC at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, Mr Sefcovic said the idea had not been “precisely formulated” and the “ball is in the UK’s court”.

The UK Government has begun consulting businesses on the benefits of the PEM and how it could help cut red tape and improve trade, the BBC said.

Mr Sefcovic also told the broadcaster he would like to see the possibility of a full-scale veterinary agreement between the EU and UK reviewed.

Mr Pennycook told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme: “I think in general the Government’s been very clear … that we do want a closer relationship with our European partners, both in trading terms but also, importantly ... in terms of security and defence co-operation, where we need to work far more closely.

“So absolutely, yes, we do want a closer relationship. As for this particular arrangement: no, we’re not seeking to participate in it at the present time.”

Dame Emily Thornberry, chairwoman of the Commons Foreign Affairs Committee, also told the BBC the UK’s post-Brexit trade settlement with the trade bloc had “all kinds of holes” in it.

The Labour MP added: “Within that agreement there is a mechanism for improving it, and we need to seize that opportunity, because we need to make sure that within the constraints of the vote to leave the European Union, we nevertheless do everything that we can to get rid of barriers to trade with our nearest neighbours and the people who we trade with the most.”

The “uneven and difficult” situation with veterinary checks needed to be resolved, she added.

Liberal Democrat leader Sir Ed Davey said ruling out the PEM proposal was an “act of economic negligence”.

He said: “It is alarming that the Government is happy to negotiate with China but won’t even look at a better trading arrangement with our closest neighbours in Europe.”