Starmer rejects claim he has sold out fishing sector, saying deal is ‘good for fishing’
The leaders are now taking questions.
Q: [From the BBC’s Chris Mason] Haven’t you sold out the fishing sector?
Starmer says the principles behind today are about bills, jobs and borders. The SPS changes will take away a lot of red tape.
Over 70% of seafood goes to EU. This will help them, he says.
The length of time for the agreement provides stability.
Annual negotiations on fishing would have generated uncertainty.
Shellfish can be sold back into the EU, he says.
He end saying this is “good for fishing”.
Key events
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Badenoch claims Starmer’s EU deal has broken all five of her tests for it to be acceptable
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Education sector welcomes move towards UK rejoining Erasmus+ and setting up ‘youth experience’ scheme
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Scottish government welcomes key parts of deal with EU, but says fishing industry has been betrayed
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Von der Leyen ducks question about how much UK might have to contribute to participate in €150bn weapons fund
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‘Genuine progress’ – business groups welcome deal with EU
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Energy sector welcomes deal with EU, said it could save billions over course of this parliament
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Starmer rejects claim he has sold out fishing sector, saying deal is ‘good for fishing’
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Starmer says British firms will save £800m from emissions trading deal
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UK and EU agree to hold regular summits every year
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Starmer, von der Leyen and Costa hold press conference
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UK-EU summit deal published
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Meat industry welcomes deal, saying Labour has achieved ‘what previous government promised originally but didn’t deliver’
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Starmer says he wants to move on ‘from stale old debates’ of Brexit with EU deal
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Deal with EU will make food cheaper and add £9bn to UK economy, says No 10
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Youth mobility scheme with EU to be called ‘youth experience scheme’, leak suggests
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Starmer’s deal ‘far worse than Boris Johnson’s’ for fishing sector, says Scottish Fishermen’s Federation
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Ed Davey welcomes deal and urges Starmer to ignore ‘naysayers and dinosaurs’ in Reform UK and Tory party
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Tory claims about EU deal being ‘surrender’ are ‘nonsense’, says Conservative peer and supermarket boss Stuart Rose
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Deal could lead to ‘end of fishing industry’, Farage claims
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Minister says deal with EU shows Britain ‘back on world stage’
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‘Total capitulation’ – Tories attack deal on fishing, even though it extends concessions originally made by Boris Johnson
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Scottish government complains about not being consulted over deal with EU on fishing
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Reynolds refuses to deny report saying EU fishing rights in UK waters extended for 12 years under deal
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EU fishing rights in UK waters extended for 12 years under deal, BBC reports
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Reynolds suggests EU and UK have agreed youth mobility scheme with cap on numbers
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Agenda for the day
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UK-EU reset deal still not agreed, business secretary says
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What could be in the new security and defence pact that is likely to be announced today?
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Breakthrough in EU-UK talks
Q: Do you see any benefit at all from a youth mobility scheme?
Badenoch says she loves youth mobility schemes. The UK has ones with countries like Australia and Canada.
But she does not support uncapped, unlimited migration.
She goes on:
We’ve got to be a little bit more realistic and a lot less naive.
In Germany people can get citizenship after three years. That person would then be able to come to the UK, she claims.
She claims that Keir Starmer does not understand this. “When Starmer negotiates, Britain loses,” she says.
(In fact, she has been saying it throughout the press conference.)
Q: Do you accept the need to reduce trade barriers with the EU?
Badenoch says trade deals should reduce barriers to trade.
But she says she does not approve of the way the EU linked different issues.
Priti Patel, the shadow foreign secretary, says she does not see why the EU was allowed to link issues like defence and fishing.
Badenoch says she is not persuaded by the government claim that this will be worth £9bn. She says the UK is a services economy. This deal does not help with services, she says.
She says she never signed a deal as business secretary that took the UK backwards. She was willing to walk away.
But Keir Starmer is never prepared to walk away, she says.
Q: Liz Truss said she did not know if Emmanuel Macron was a friend or a foe. What is your view now?
Badenoch says she does not want to get into that. Every side negotiates in its best interests. She says her complaint is with Starmer, not Macron.
Q: Farmers back this deal. Why are you opposed to it?
Badenoch says she does not think anyone thinks the government is on the side of farmers.
Victoria Atkins, the shadow environment secretary, says the Tories would welcome improvements in trade.
But there are no details in this deal, she says.
Badenoch says this deal will make it harder to get a trade deal with the US.
The UK does not have a trade deal with the US – just a small tariff deal, she says.
Badenoch is now taking questions.
Q: Will you reverse this?
Badenoch says, although there are some positive things in the deal, overall it is problematic.
Anything that brings back European court of justice jurisdiction is unacceptable, she says.
She says she ended ECJ jurisdiction. She cannot believe it is coming back.
Badenoch claims Starmer’s EU deal has broken all five of her tests for it to be acceptable
Kemi Badenoch says she set five tests for Labour’s reset negotiation with the EU.
They were that the deal should involve: “1) no backsliding on free movement or compulsory asylum transfers; 2) no new money paid to the EU; 3) no reduction in our fishing rights; 4) no rule taking, dynamic alignment or European Court jurisdiction; and 5) no compromise on the primacy of NATO as the cornerstone of European security.”
She claims that all five of the test have been broken.
Julia Kollewe
Julia Kollewe is a Guardian financial reporter.
Mike Cohen, chief executive of the National Federation of Fishermen’s Organisations, has described the UK-EU deal was “very, very disappointing” and a “big blow” to Britain’s fishing industry.
He told the Guardian:
It falls a long way short of what we’d hoped for. It makes the situation worse.
“To do a 12-year deal in return for nothing is very unusual,” he added, noting that the UK negotiates annual fisheries deals with Iceland, Norway and the Faroe Islands. He said the UK should have secured restrictions, such as exclusive control of the territorial waters within 12 miles off the coast, where non-UK vessels may have access under certain conditions.
Cohen warned that the agreement can also affect the UK’s marine management, making it “far easier” for the EU to start trade disputes. He pointed to the EU’s recent legal challenge against a ban on fishing for sand eels in UK waters, which will remain in place despite the EU taking the UK to court. The EU was supporting Denmark, which has the largest sand eel fishing fleet.
He said the agreement was positive for the food industry, but cautioned that it “isn’t going to filter down to producers”, while exporters and big retailers “will do better”.
Education sector welcomes move towards UK rejoining Erasmus+ and setting up ‘youth experience’ scheme
Sally Weale
Sally Weale is a Guardian education correspondent.
There has been a warm response from the higher and further education sectors to a government commitment to work towards the UK associating with the Erasmus+ programme once again, and UK-EU co-operation on a future “youth experience scheme”.
After Brexit and the UK’s exclusion from the Europe-wide Erasmus+ student exchange programme, Boris Johnson’s government established its alternative Turing scheme which was intended to give more students from lower-income backgrounds the opportunity to take up international study placement globally.
While many have no doubt benefited from the Turing scheme, Erasmus+ remained deeply mourned. Welcoming today’s announcement, Vanessa Wilson, CEO of University Alliance ,which represents leading professional and technical universities, said:
The benefits of a reciprocal programme like Erasmus+ are the deep and long-term relationships it allows us to develop. For students, the opportunity to travel as part of their degree has significant benefits for their confidence, their skills and ultimately their employability.
As a former Erasmus student myself, I can attest to the transformational impact the programme had on my own life, and I am pleased that we have moved closer to young people having access to the same opportunities I had.
David Hughes, chief executive of the Association of Colleges (AoC), added:
I am very pleased to see today’s UK-EU summit work towards a youth experience scheme and association to the Erasmus+ programme. These are hugely positive steps opening up future opportunities for our young people.
AoC stands ready to support the UK government and European partners as discussions progress, and I hope developments can move forward quickly, allowing young people in colleges to benefit soon from the invaluable employability, vocational and life skills that international mobility generates.
