Labour Mayor Andy Burnham’s ‘Surrender’ Deal With EU Is Done

Andy Burnham has reached a draft understanding with the EU that would see Britain align with Brussels on food standards and introduce a form of free movement for younger people, according to reports.

The proposed arrangements are emerging ahead of a UK-EU summit, with the bloc’s member states reportedly circulating a 200-page draft sanitary and phytosanitary (SPS) agreement.

The BBC reports that separate draft agreements covering emissions trading and a so-called “youth experience scheme” are also being shared, alongside a 15-page statement prepared for EU leaders.

The package is expected to become the centrepiece of the Prime Minister’s Brexit “reset”, which he hopes to complete at a summit in Brussels on November 20.

At the heart of the proposed deal is the SPS agreement. It would commit the UK to following EU rules governing food safety, as well as animal and plant health protections.

Under the proposed youth scheme, EU citizens aged under 30 would be able to live, work and study in Britain.

British citizens would receive equivalent rights in EU member states.

The Prime Minister is also reported to be considering a contribution of up to £450million a year to enable EU students to access reduced tuition fees at UK universities.

Since Brexit, EU students attending British universities have generally faced international tuition fees ranging from £11,400 to £38,000 a year for undergraduate courses.

That compares with the domestic fee rate of £9,790 a year paid by British students.

Brussels is pushing for EU students to be charged the same tuition rate as their British counterparts while studying in the UK.

Mr Burnham has claimed that the agreements he expects to sign this month could deliver an economic boost equivalent to more than £10billion annually by 2040.

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However, angry Brexiteers have criticised the prospect of Britain becoming a “rule-taker”, warning that the Government could give up freedoms gained when the country left the EU.

Speaking at a rally in central London on Tuesday morning, Tory leader Kemi Badenoch said: “We left the EU so that we could make our own rules.

“But if the Government is simply signing up to follow EU rules, then what was the point of leaving?

“They are too frightened to use the Brexit freedoms available to us.

“The free trade agreement we have with the EU, like many other agreements, requires constant negotiation.

“I want to see Labour negotiating and improving agreements with countries around the world. That is what you do when you have your own trade policy.”

Reform UK deputy leader Richard Tice said: ‘One of the key benefits of Brexit was that Britain no longer had to adhere to ridiculous EU rules, standards and regulations. 

‘Returning to any form of alignment with Europe would crush Britain’s competitiveness and force us to surrender sovereignty over trade policy, putting trade deals worth hundreds of billions of pounds at risk.’

Ahead of the UK-EU summit, Mr Burnham has told MPs he will also be ‘open to a discussion about our relationship with the EU in the longer term’. 

His remarks fuelled questions about the prospect of the UK returning to the EU, or adopting its freedom of movement rules for all citizens by rejoining the bloc’s single market.

Despite saying in a recent newspaper interview that he wants an ‘honest discussion’ about the possibility of returning to free movement, the PM has since appeared to backtrack amid a revolt by some Labour MPs.

In an interview with ITV which aired on Tuesday, Mr Burnham said: ‘I have not proposed freedom of movement coming back.

‘I do believe that we should have an honest discussion with people about how immigration has changed since the Brexit vote because the shorter term migration of people coming from Europe and then going back has been replaced with long term settlement in bigger numbers, and that was the Boriswave.’