'Pragmatic' approach could reap 'ambitious' UK-EU deal: Starmer

Britain's Prime Minister Keir Starmer is looking to deepen ties with the EU. Photo: Alberto Pezzali / POOL/AFP
Source: AFP

A "pragmatic" attack to talks connected nutrient standards, younker mobility and European courts could output an "ambitious" post-Brexit woody betwixt the EU and UK, Prime Minister Keir Starmer said successful an interrogation published Saturday by The Guardian newspaper.

London and Brussels are hopeful of signing a woody astatine the archetypal UK-EU acme since Brexit, which volition instrumentality spot successful the British superior connected May 19.

However, Labour's drubbing by the anti-EU Reform UK enactment successful caller section elections and captious absorption to a commercialized woody agreed this week with India could pb London to instrumentality a much cautious approach, The Guardian reported.

Despite the imaginable for home criticism, Starmer suggested to the insubstantial that the UK was prepared to align with the EU connected nutrient standards arsenic portion of the deal, saying: "We bash not privation to little our standards connected food.

"I deliberation that British people are arrogant of the precocious standards that we have, and we privation to support those standards," helium said, adding the authorities would instrumentality a "serious, pragmatic" attack to talks.

Significantly, helium accepted that the European Court of Justice would beryllium progressive successful resolving disputes, pointing retired that it already has a relation arsenic portion of the existing statement that deals with Northern Ireland.

Youth mobility strategy

Defence Secretary John Healey besides told the BBC connected Friday that London was consenting to wage for UK companies to summation entree to lucrative EU defence spending programmes.

"We are prepared to wage our just stock but we privation to person a accidental successful the programmes, portion retaining UK intelligence spot and export opportunities," helium said.

One of the astir arguable elements of a caller woody is simply a imaginable younker mobility scheme, which would region restrictions connected young radical moving betwixt the UK and EU.

Minister for EU relations Nick Thomas-Symonds said this week the authorities was exploring the scheme, and Starmer, erstwhile asked astir the subject, told The Guardian that "we're pragmatists, and that's the attack that we bring to these negotiations".

Immigration was a cardinal crushed down the 2016 ballot to permission the European Union and the authorities has vowed determination volition beryllium nary instrumentality to escaped of question of people.

While authorising young radical successful the EU and successful Britain to walk a definite play moving oregon studying successful the different territory is removed from the free-movement rule that exists wrong the EU, it is apt to beryllium seized upon by Reform UK.

That party, and its anti-immigration person Nigel Farage, are presently riding precocious successful the polls.

The paper said EU diplomats were acrophobic that home concerns were curbing London's tendency for a speedy deal, with 1 saying that "everyone is precise delicate to however a person narration lands successful the UK".

But Starmer insisted helium was "ambitious astir what we tin achieve" and that "I privation a person narration connected security, connected defence, connected commercialized and connected the economy.

"Let's look forward, not back. Let's recognise we're surviving successful a antithetic world. We're successful a caller epoch connected information and defence. Equally, we're successful a caller epoch connected commercialized and the system now," helium added.

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Source: AFP