Starmer admits he would reopen 'half-baked' Brexit deal

Keir Starmer admits he would reopen ‘half-baked’ Brexit deal to help UK businesses as Vauxhall warns it could move production abroad – as Lord Frost accuses leftwing Remainers of stoking a culture war because they ‘want us to fail’ outside the EU

Labour would reopen the Brexit deal to help businesses compete with the EU, Sir Keir Starmer said today.

The Opposition leader blasted Boris Johnson’s agreement – since tweaked by Rishi Sunak – as ‘half-baked’ after one of the UK’s top motor manufacturers demanded change.

Vauxhall’s parent company Stellantis told MPs it will be unable to keep a commitment to make electric vehicles in the UK without changes to the Trade and Co-operation Agreement (TCA) with the European Union.

The firm – which also owns Citroen, Peugeot and Fiat – employs more than 5,000 people in the UK.

But it came as a former Tory minister suggested leftwing Remain supporters were stoking a ‘culture war’ because they wanted Britain to ‘fail’ outside the EU.

Lord Frost told the National Conservative Conference: ‘If they can show that the British nation was somehow born in sin, or even isn’t really a proper country at all but a temporary constellation of four nations fused together purely for self-interest, then it’s much easier to discredit the proposition that getting Britain to succeed in the 21st century is a worthwhile or even a possible task.’

Speaking to BBC Breakfast, the Labour Party leader said: ‘Look, we’re not going to re-enter the EU. We do need to improve that deal. Of course we want a closer trading relationship, we absolutely do. We want to ensure that Vauxhall and many others not just survive in this country but thrive.

The Opposition leader blasted Boris Johnson’s agreement – since tweaked by Rishi Sunak – as ‘half-baked’ after one of the UK’s top motor manufacturers demanded change.

Vauxhall’s parent company Stellantis told MPs it will be unable to keep a commitment to make electric vehicles in the UK without changes to the Trade and Co-operation Agreement (TCA) with the European Union.

Lord Frost told the National Conservative Conference: ‘If they can show that the British nation was somehow born in sin, or even isn’t really a proper country at all but a temporary constellation of four nations fused together purely for self-interest, then it’s much easier to discredit the proposition that getting Britain to succeed in the 21st century is a worthwhile or even a possible task.’

‘Because there are jobs bound up, there are families watching this morning either employed by Vauxhall or a similar place who are deeply worried about what this means. 

‘So yes we need a better Brexit deal. We will make Brexit work. That doesn’t mean reversing the decision and going back into the EU but the deal we’ve got, it was said to be oven-ready, it wasn’t even half-baked.

‘So of course we’ve got to repair that along with all the other things we’ll have to repair if and when we are privileged to come into government.’

Sir Keir said there was ‘too much by way of barriers’, saying they needed to be torn down in any update to the Brexit deal. He said a future Labour government would look to ‘make things here in Britain’ to ensure a strong domestic supply chain.

Mr Sunak was successful in convincing the EU to reopen the deal when he secured his Windsor Framework to ease problems in Northern Ireland in February. 

Stellantis told a Commons inquiry into the supply of batteries for electric vehicles (EVs) that their UK investments were in the balance due to the terms of the trade deal.

The world’s fourth biggest car maker committed to making electric vehicles at its Ellesmere Port and Luton plants two years ago.

But in a submission to the inquiry, the company said the Brexit deal was a ‘threat to our export business and the sustainability of our UK manufacturing operations’.

It called on the Government to reach agreement with the EU to maintain existing rules until 2027, rather than next year’s planned changes which state 45 per cent of an electric car’s value should originate in the UK or EU to qualify for trade without tariffs.

Stellantis said the rise in the cost of raw materials during the pandemic and energy crisis meant it was ‘unable to meet these rules of origin’.

It said the upcoming rules would see 10 per cent tariffs on trade with the EU and make domestic production and exports uncompetitive with Japan and South Korea.

Business and Trade Secretary Kemi Badenoch has raised the issue with Brussels, the Government said, and she has a pre-arranged meeting with Stellantis chiefs on Wednesday.

She has also raised the motor industry’s concerns about the TCA with Chancellor Jeremy Hunt and Foreign Secretary James Cleverly, according to Whitehall sources.

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