Labour’s Business Secretary Jonathan Reynolds has scored Keir Starmer’s Brexit deal an ‘eight out of 10’, stopping short of full marks.
He was asked to give it a score on GB News by Eamonn Holmes after the UK and the EU agreed a new post-Brexit trade deal.
“This is a solid eight out of ten”, he said.
“I’m not the kind of man to get hyperbolic about these things. This is a good deal for borders, bills, security in the UK and jobs.
Reynolds admitted he is not fully satisfied with the deal by failing to give it full marks
GB NEWS / PA
“I want to be absolutely clear. This is not about revisiting arguments around Brexit. This is not about a customs union or single market, it’s about improving the terms of trade in a way, which I think everyone can get behind.
“There are some food and agricultural products you just can’t sell in the European Union right now. We make sausages in my constituency, we can’t sell burgers, mince or sausages in the European Union right now.
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“Our trade and agriculture is down by about a fifth even though our standards are the same.
“We said, we can do those big trade agreements with the rest of the world but we can also improve things with the European Union.
“Whether it’s selling food products, using e-gates when you go on holiday or bringing your pet with you if that’s what you want to do. Sensible, practical things.
“We always need to co-operate with other European countries on defence, that’s an important part of it as well. This is really promising. It isn’t about the past, it’s about the future.”
Labour is bracing for backlash to an EU deal many will see as a betrayal of the UK’s fishing sector.
The UK has agreed to open its fishing waters to EU boats for an additional 12 years in a concession that formed a key part of intensive overnight crunch talks.
Jonathan Reynolds joined Eamonn Holmes and Ellie Costello to discuss his Government's post-Brexit reset
GB NEWS
The fishing access agreement had been a major sticking point with both sides locked in intense haggling.
In return for the concession, Starmer secured a deal that will significantly reduce red tape for British farming and fisheries exports to the EU.
The agreement has been dubbed an “economic prize” of the reset talks after three EU diplomats confirmed that Brussels had dropped demands to link the duration of the agrifood deal to the one for fish.
British officials confirmed that an agreement on the two issues had been finalised.
British fishers fear they have been sold out with Starmer's Brexit reset
PAReynolds insisted on GB News that Britain’s fishers will ultimately gain from the controversial agreement.
“It’s not just about what you gain in terms of fishing in the UK, it’s who you sell that product to”, he said.
“A lot of the stuff, particularly shellfish, particularly salmon, we have major markets for in the European Union.
“You’ve got to think about not just what you’re catching, but who you’re selling it to and how easy it is to do that.
“At present, it’s not easy.”
The summit at Lancaster House this morning will see both sides formally sign a security and defence partnership, which is being positioned as the centrepiece of the new UK-EU relationship.
This agreement comes as part of the broader reset of post-Brexit relations between the UK and the European Union.
The eleventh-hour negotiations that produced breakthroughs on fishing access, veterinary arrangements and youth mobility have paved the way for this formal signing ceremony, marking a significant shift in relations since Britain's departure from the EU.
