‘We have one chance to stop this!’ Brexiteers draw up battle plan to stop Keir Starmer’s EU reset betrayal

Jack Walters
Sat, 18 Apr 2026 06:00:02 +0000

Veteran Brexiteers are currently drawing up a battle plan to stop Sir Keir Starmer’s reset with the European Union, GB News has been told.

The Prime Minister, who campaigned to reverse the result of the 2016 referendum as Jeremy Corbyn’s Shadow Brexit Secretary, is set to introduce legislation to align the UK with future Brussels-derived directives without normal parliamentary scrutiny.

Eurosceptics have warned the move is a “backdoor attempt to drag Britain back under EU control”, with Reform UK leader Nigel Farage adding: “The British voters didn’t vote to become rule-takers.”

However, Brexit-backing MPs appear hamstrung to amend or oppose secondary legislation looking to bind Britain to the Brussels bloc.

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GB News understands MPs will only retain the ability to rubber-stamp new deals rather than debate and vote on all new directives.

The parliamentary arithmetic also means Labour MPs are expected to consistently give the nod to measures to pursue a closer relationship, supported by Europhile MPs from the Liberal Democrats and Scottish National Party.

Brexiteers are now rushing to mobilise after opinion polls showed a shift in public mood compared to the 2016 referendum.

“Watch this space,” a long-time Eurosceptic campaigner told GB News. “There are plans afoot.”

A former Vote Leave figure appeared to suggest a new message for Brexiteers to adopt, with echoes of the £350million bus used in 2016.

“In 2019, we paid the EU £22billion in today's terms, or £29billion excluding the rebate, which we'd never get back again were we to rejoin,” they said.

“Do people want the tax burden to go up by another £29billion? No. That's the message that people who want to defend the referendum need to project.”

Leading Brexiteers plan to gather in Westminster next month for a major conference event on the opportunities available to the UK following its departure from the Brussels bloc.

“This is the beginning of the big fightback by Brexiteers,” one veteran said.

Sir John Redwood, who is due to speak at the conference, urged Eurosceptics to set out the benefits of Britain’s exit.

Speaking to GB News, the ex-Cabinet Minister said: “Brexiteers need to set out a positive vision for greater UK prosperity by using our Brexit freedoms before Starmer takes many of them away in his hugely damaging reset.

“We have negotiated good trade deals with India, the Pacific Partnership, and Australia. These are at risk if we give back control to Brussels.

“We will not be able to negotiate more and better deals with fast-growing parts of the world. The Prime Minister will doubtless give away large sums of our money to the EU, forcing taxes up even higher.

Sir John added: “If we use our Brexit freedoms, we could remove carbon taxes and emissions trading to give us cheaper energy.

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“We could avoid imposing a carbon tariff on imports. We can innovate in medicines and agriculture in ways the EU will block.

“How dare the Prime Minister seek to reverse the Brexit vote without asking the voters.”

The Prime Minister’s reset legislation is expected to be included in the King’s Speech in May.

However, a Government source rejected the suggestion that MPs will have no say on new EU regulations.

“We are clear Parliament will have a role for new deals and on new EU laws applying under those deals,” the source told GB News.

Negotiations between Labour and Brussels will continue ahead of the next UK-EU summit this summer, including on a Sanitary & Phytosanitary Agreement and emissions trading systems.

British negotiators insist the EU has accepted the need for the UK to have the freedom to introduce its own rules on a number of policy areas.

However, there are concerns the EU could launch retaliatory action against the UK if MPs vote down key regulations following months of negotiations.

Brexiteers have also sensed an opportunity to pile pressure on Brussels by casting doubts about Labour’s electoral viability.

Christopher Howarth, a former foreign policy adviser and European Research Group veteran who now works at the Centre for a Better Britain, told GB News: “If both Reform and the Tories stated categorically that they would rip up Starmer’s reset, the EU would have pause for thought.

“Would the EU put lots of effort into a deal that may come in 2027, only to go straight into a renegotiation in 2029?

“They can and will tie it up legally to make it as difficult as possible for the UK to leave, but trying to lock us in just makes the inevitable bust-up worse.”

He added: “We have been here before. In 2009, after the Lisbon Treaty came into force, William Hague said ‘we will not let matters rest here' – a statement that led to real EU angst, they asked constantly what it meant and then, in the renegotiations, gave Cameron nothing, so we didn't let it rest – we left the EU.

“Reform and the Tories should say now that they will renegotiate and will put that in their manifestos to give them a mandate. That might make the EU go cold on the whole idea. That’s the only real chance of stopping this.”

The EU is already cautious about Brexiteers unravelling the Prime Minister’s reset deal.

A termination clause, which has been dubbed the “Farage clause”, could force taxpayers to pay Brussels compensation that could run to billions of pounds.

However, the UK is hesitant to agree to the clause, with Sir Keir's reset instead expected to give ministers the power to “dynamically align” with the EU on future single-market rules if they deem it to be in the national interest.

The move is possible under so-called Henry VIII powers, which will allow ministers to approve laws without full scrutiny.

Ministers will adopt EU rules through secondary legislation via a “statutory instrument”.

Despite fury from Brexiteers over Labour’s reset, bombshell polling from More in Common found 65 per cent of Britons would now vote to rejoin the EU.

Constitutional experts even fear rejoining the EU could require the UK to sign up to the euro and Schengen area under the 1993 Copenhagen criteria.

Sir Keir made an iron-clad manifesto commitment in the 2024 General Election not to join the single market and customs union.

The Prime Minister is also dismissing calls from prominent Labour figures to eventually consider rejoining the EU altogether, including Lord Kinnock and Sir Sadiq Khan.

However, Sir Keir is expected to make Brexit a cornerstone of the next general election, putting clear blue water between the Labour leader and Mr Farage.

Lord Matthew Elliott appeared to suggest Brexiteers anticipate the same fault-lines emerging in 2029, with the Tories and Reform vying for predominantly Eurosceptic votes.

“I think the road we are on is that at the next election there’s going to be a choice,” the former Vote Leave chief told Chopper's Political Podcast.

“If you want to be out of the EU and make the most of the opportunities, you vote Conservative or Reform.

“If you’re more for wanting to rejoin the EU in some form, it’s a vote for Labour, the Lib Dems, Greens, SNP – all of whom, in different forms, have talked about alignment, reset, customs union, single market, full rejoin.”

A Government spokesman said: “The bill will go through Parliament in the normal way.

“Any new treaties or deals with the EU will also face parliamentary scrutiny, and Parliament will have a role in approving new EU laws required under those deals via secondary legislation.

“This will allow us to deliver a 'food and drink' trade deal worth £5.1billion a year, backing British jobs and slashing costly red tape for our farmers, producers and businesses.”