Reform UK’s policies would spark a trade war with the EU that would have far worse consequences than Donald Trump’s tariffs, a senior minister has claimed.
European affairs minister Nick Thomas-Symonds, who is responsible for negotiating the Brexit reset for Sir Keir Starmer’s government, has dismissed Reform leader Nigel Farage as “not a serious candidate for prime minister”.
He warned that Reform’s plans to tear up the settled status deal for EU citizens would spark a trade war even before the party tried to pull out of any other deals.
Mr Thomas-Symonds spoke to The Independent ahead of a crucial 48 hours for the UK’s renegotiation with the EU, with a meeting of the UK/EU parliamentary assembly set to take place on Monday, and chancellor Rachel Reeves due to outline the government’s vision on Tuesday in the City of London’s Mais Lecture.
Ms Reeves is set to deliver a similar warning about Reform’s immigration policies, which would see non-British citizens lose welfare payments, tearing up the settled status deal for EU citizens that was negotiated before the UK left the bloc in 2020.
Mr Thomas-Symonds told The Independent: “If you think Boris Johnson left us with a bad deal, think about what Nigel Farage would do in power. We know that the emissions trading system and the food and drink agreement together are worth up to £9bn a year to the economy by 2040, and he’s already said he would take that away.”
Highlighting Reform UK’s draconian immigration plans, which the party unveiled last month at a press conference in Dover, Mr Thomas-Symonds said: “Farage is also talking about taking all welfare support away from EU settled citizens. Frankly, with that, we probably would end up with us in some sort of trade war with the EU. That really isn’t what we need.”
He added: “Think, as well, of the progress we’ve been making recently, working constructively with the EU on the ‘Made in Europe’ agenda, to try to make sure there’s no additional trade barriers being erected. Nigel Farage would put all that at risk.”
Asked if a trade war would be “worse than Trump’s tariffs”, Mr Thomas-Symonds warned: “It would, because trade with the EU is so much bigger, about £800bn worth of trade a year. What does that mean? It means risking prices in the shops going up. It means putting jobs at risk. These are not things that are in our national interest; that’s not a serious policy.”
Reform responded to his claims by accusing Labour of “scaremongering”. A spokesperson said: “Reform UK believes the welfare system should support those who have paid into it, not act as an open-ended entitlement. The idea that putting British taxpayers first would somehow spark a trade war with the EU is ridiculous.”
Reform’s business and trade spokesperson, deputy leader Richard Tice, also hit back at Mr Thomas-Symonds. At a press conference in Westminster, he said: “Why would you want to handcuff yourself ever closer to any failing economic model? It’s the last thing in the world we should be doing. So, of course, we’ll look at everything in the round.
“Why should we pay anybody to come to our country and then pay them benefits? In the nicest possible way, you’re lucky enough to come and live in this country, please do contribute, work, integrate, [learn] the lingo, fantastic. But we can’t afford to pay people to sit at home on their backsides if they come to the UK. It’s as simple as that.”
Mr Thomas-Symonds said he believes Brexit will be “an important dividing line” between Labour and its biggest political rivals at the next election, but has also warned pro-EU campaigners that the UK will not rejoin the bloc, and has ruled out agreeing any sort of customs union with it in his reset talks.
But he argued that the “ruthless pragmatism” of the Starmer government is where the public is on the issue, even though a BMG poll on 4 March suggested that public support for rejoining the EU was at 45 per cent, with 37 per cent against.
He said: “I’m talking to people up and down the country on a weekly basis, and there is support for the closer relationship that we have already built and are building, but no appetite to reopen the debates of the past.”
He added: “We are the ones who will be delivering for the British public, delivering on living standards, delivering on jobs, delivering on law enforcement and immigration. And I very much welcome the debate at the next election, if the Conservatives and Reform want to take all that away.”
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