Accusations of treason over a food and drink deal with the EU are “nonsense”, a Government minister has said, as he defended talks on a pact with the bloc due to begin in the autumn.
Nick Thomas-Symonds, the EU relations minister, rejected claims by Nigel Farage, and Kemi Badenoch’s Tories, that the Government is surrendering sovereignty or freedoms, accusing them of offering only “easy answers and snake oil” when it comes to the UK-EU relationship.
The Government will begin detailed talks on the permanent sanitary and phytosanitary standards (SPS) deal in the coming months, Mr Thomas-Symonds told an event hosted by the Spectator magazine in London on Wednesday. A summit with the EU will be held next year, he added.
“We will then bring the legislation to Parliament to implement the deal. We will get that done by 2027, so businesses and consumers see the tangible impacts as soon as possible – money saved at the borders, profits freed up to invest, pounds kept in the pocket of working people.”
Anticipating opposition from Brexiteer Mr Farage and the Conservatives, Mr Thomas-Symonds said: “Some will hysterically cry even treason. Some will say we’re surrendering sovereignty or freedoms, but that is nonsense.”
He continued: “Now we know we are going to have a political fight on this, especially when we legislate for it in Parliament.
“But the Prime Minister was very direct in his instructions to me on taking office – national interests first, build on what’s best about Britain.
“We are determined to plug the gaps, to rebuild Britain, protect our borders, bring down bills in every part of the country and secure good jobs, a new relationship of mutual benefit, one that brings freedom back to our businesses and exercises our sovereignty.
“And it needs pragmatism – when you’re tough, decisive and collaborative. That cannot rest on easy answers and snake oil. The Tories (are) completely 2D, stuck with a ghost of Brexit past. And then Nigel Farage, who has pledged to reverse our progress.”
Mr Thomas-Symonds said that Mr Farage wants British businesses to fail so that he can offer “the easy answers, dividing communities and stoking anger, and we reject that emphatically”.
It came after Mr Farage criticised the SPS provisions agreed in May, writing in the Telegraph that it would push the UK “back into the orbit of Brussels, giving away vast amounts of our sovereignty for very little in return”.
He also wrote: “A Reform government would undo all of this with legislation.”
Meanwhile, Mrs Badenoch said Labour’s approach would make the UK a “supplicant”.
“My worry is that Labour are taking us backwards instead of taking us forwards,” the Tory leader said.
The current temporary agreement with the EU on food and drink, which was put in place in June, stopped checks on some fruit and vegetables imported from the EU which meant no border checks or fees would be paid.
It will expire in January 2027.
The agreement in May covered multiple areas, including fishing, defence, a youth experience scheme, and passport e-gates.
The Government said it would halt border checks on “medium-risk” fruit and vegetables, including tomatoes, grapes and peppers while a permanent SPS deal was negotiated.
The checks were due to be brought into force this summer.
This was followed in August by ministers cancelling border checks on live animal imports from the EU, and on animal and plant goods from Ireland.
Mr Thomas-Symonds used his speech to repeat that the Government will not rejoin the single market or customs union, although he said it was “pro free-trade”. A recent YouGov poll commissioned by travel body Abta suggested 57% of people favoured closer economic relations with Europe.
Meanwhile similar polling by More in Common earlier this year found a majority of people, 71%, believed the UK economy had weakened since Brexit.
Mr Thomas-Symonds declined to commit to further alignment on other areas, including chemicals, and said the Government’s focus was on the SPS deal.
He said: “It isn’t about revisiting issues of the past, it is about a ruthlessly pragmatic assessment of the national interest today.”
He continued: “We’re going to implement that and show the advantages and share the advantages with the British people.
“It will be Reform at the next election, they are seriously saying they want to undo that deal. It’s going to be Reform looking backwards, this Labour Government is looking forwards to the future.”
The minister also denied that aligning with the EU emissions trading scheme would lead to higher prices. The Conservatives have previously raised concerns over the move.
He said energy-intensive carbon industries such as steel and chemicals, which have come under pressure from high costs, would avoid having to pay about £7 million in carbon taxes that they would otherwise have paid.
He said: “I don’t accept that analysis because if you look at the linkage of our emissions trading systems, first of all it gives us access to a much larger decarbonisation market, which will have, I would suggest, much more efficient downward pressure over time (on bills).”
