UK politics live: Starmer urged to be ‘bold’ in Brexit reset talks ahead of crunch meeting

The Government would be willing to align with EU rules in some areas, Nick Thomas-Symonds said.

Asked about alignment, he told the BBC’s Sunday With Laura Kuenssberg: “What we are looking to do, we don’t come at this from an ideological perspective, we come from a practical perspective.

“Where it is in our national interest to align on common standards to make sure we get far easier trade, to mean that businesses that frankly have had to stop trading with the EU because of the red tape, can start trading with the EU again.”

He added: “It means taking a sovereign choice as to the standards, the common standards we wish to align.

“That’s what we did in the US deal where we wouldn’t compromise on our food standards and it’s exactly that same pragmatic approach for jobs and growth here in this country we are taking in this negotiations.”

He also said that the Government would assess whether to contribute money to EU projects on a case-by-case basis, saying it would “consider each one on its merits”.

Any deal on a youth mobility scheme with Europe will have to be “smart and controlled” and will be “absolutely consistent” with the Government’s immigration policy, a minister has said.

Nick Thomas-Symonds told the BBC’s Sunday With Laura Kuenssberg: “It’s about a smart and controlled scheme.

“As of today we have already 13 youth mobility schemes with other countries, nobody is remotely suggesting that that is freedom of movement with those countries, it absolutely isn’t.”

He added: “It will be absolutely consistent with the objective the Government set out in the Immigration White Paper last week.

“It is to reduce the level of net migration, that is the objective we set out last week.”

Sir Keir Starmer has said he is “coming” for the people who are working in the UK illegally.

In a post on X he said that Illegal working raids are up 40 per cent and he does not intend on stopping there.

He wrote: “If you work here illegally or employ people who do, we’re coming for you. Illegal working raids are up 40 per cent. And we won’t stop there.”

The Government has been “negotiating very hard” for a deal on food and drink exports with the EU, the minister in charge of negotiations has said.

Nick Thomas-Symonds told the BBC’s Sunday With Laura Kuenssberg: “This is an area at the moment where the current deal just isn’t working.

“We know we’ve had lorries waiting for 16 hours, fresh food in the back not able to be exported because frankly it’s just going off, red tape, all the certifications that are required, we absolutely want to reduce that.”

He added: “We are confident, but as I say nothing is agreed until everything is agreed.

“But we promised in our manifesto last year that we were elected on that we would be seeking that agreement across agricultural products to help our farmers export their excellent produce, but also across food and drink, and that’s something we’ve been negotiating very hard for.”

Sir Keir Starmer has insisted that closer ties with the EU will be “good for our boarders, cut bills and boost jobs”, ahead of a summit where he could announce a deal.

A £25bn annual boost to British exports is at stake for Sir Keir Starmer as he tries to secure a Brexit reset deal at a crucial summit on Monday, analysis shared with The Independent reveals.

Removing trade barriers on goods, including food and drink and electrical items, could result in a 2.2 per cent uplift in gross domestic product in the long run, boosting the economic growth the prime minister so desperately wants to deliver, financial analysts Frontier Economics found.

Read more here by Alicja Hagopian, David Maddox:

The Conservatives have said Sir Keir Starmer’s post-Brexit reset with the EU will be a “bad deal”.

The shadow chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster said a youth mobility scheme believed to have been agreed with Brussels risks reopening the door to freedom of movement.

Quizzed over why the party was opposing the US, India and now EU deals struck by Sir Keir Starmer, Alex Burghart told Sky News: “It’s easy to sign bad deals

“You can sign bad deals any day of the week. And, the truth is that we have a worse deal with the US now than we had at the start of March. and the deal, with India has, has come at a price on, on immigration.

“Anyone can walk into a negotiating room and say, ‘I’ll tell you what, I’ll give you what you want. Can we have a deal?’ and the fear is that that is exactly what’s going to happen with the EU summit on Monday.”

Mr Thomas-Symonds, who is in charge of Britain’s post-Brexit reset with Brussels, has suggested Britons will be able to whizz through EU queues on holiday as part of the reset deal.

In a boost to travellers, the Europe minister confirmed he has been pushing his EU counterpart to allow UK arrivals in the bloc to use its passport lanes.

He stopped short of confirming it has been agreed, cautioning that “nothing is agreed until everything is”.

But he told Sky News: “We want British people who are going on holiday to be able to go and enjoy their holiday and not be stuck in queues.”

The Brexit status quo “isn’t working for the British people”, Sir Keir Starmer’s Europe minister has said.

Nick Thomas-Symonds told Sky News the government is “pushing everything to the limit and negotiating very hard” to reset Britain’s trading relationship with Europe.

“That’s exactly what the British people would expect of us,” Mr Thomas-Symonds said.

But, amid last-minute wrangling with the EU over thorny issues such as fishing and tuition fees, he warned that “nobody can guarantee” a deal will get over the line.

He added: “We want to emerge with a deal that we can say makes our borders more secure, is good for jobs and growth and is bringing people’s household bills down.

“That is what is in our national interest, and that’s what we’ll continue to do over these final few hours.”

With Tory leader Kemi Badenoch expressing concern about the nature of the talks, claiming that “whenever Labour negotiates Britain loses”, a UK government spokesperson insisted that Sir Keir would “negotiate in the national interest”.

The spokesperson said: “No final agreement has been made. We are not providing a running commentary on our discussions with the EU; these are ongoing and cover a wide range of issues.

“We have been clear that we will always act in the national interest to secure the best outcomes for the UK.”