Sir Keir Starmer and Ursula von der Leyen (Image: Getty Images)
Keir Starmer has been warned to stop cosying up to the EU and protect Brexit freedoms after it emerged Britain could join a European trade pact.
Downing Street said the move would not cross the Government’s “red lines” for its future relationship with the bloc.
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But critics have warned that closer trading ties with the EU could jeopardise the UK economy following Donald Trump's return to the White House.
The new US President has threatened to unleash hefty goods tariffs on China, Canada and Mexico in a move that could trigger a global trade war.
He also has the European Union in his crosshairs with Britain, so far, seemingly being spared any action.
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However, there are fears that joining the Pan-Euro-Mediterranean Convention (PEM) could put that at risk.
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Maros Sefcovic said the UK should consider joining the PEM (Image: AFP via Getty Images)
The deal allows for tariff-free trade of goods across Europe, as well as some North African and Levantine nations.
Priti Patel, Shadow Foreign Secretary, warned: “Labour's programme of bending the knee to the EU is disgraceful.
“These latest reports that the government might shackle us to the European Union are deeply concerning, and once again make clear that Keir Starmer and his chums are all too happy to put their ideology ahead of our national interest, no matter the cost.
“The Conservatives will always fight for the democratic freedoms the British public voted for, and will not stand idly by in the face of Labour's great betrayal of our country.”
And Richard Tice, Reform UK’s Deputy Leader, warned Sir Keir to stop his “pro EU fantasies” and put British people first.
“It’s obvious that Labour would rather cling on to their europhile tendencies over prioritising our closest allies,” he said.
“We now have the most pro British President for a long time and someone who is prepared to make a deal with the UK.
“Labour should cut their pro EU fantasies and do what’s best for the British people, that’s ensuring a close relationship with the US.”
The row was triggered after Maros Sefcovic, the official who led post-Brexit negotiations for the EU, told the BBC that the UK joining PEM is “something we could consider”.
Nick Thomas-Symonds, the minister responsible for UK-EU relations, had said he and his colleagues “do not currently have any plans” to sign up to the agreement.
But No 10 did not rule out the UK joining the PEM in future.
Priti Patel (Image: Phil Harris)
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Asked if the PEM would cross the red lines set out in Labour’s manifesto for EU ties, the Prime Minister’s official spokesman said: “The arrangement that’s been discussed is not a customs union.
“Our red line has always been that we will never join a single market, freedom of movement, but we’re just not going to get ahead of those discussions.”
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Some business groups have backed the UK joining the PEM as it would help to maintain complex supply chains, but the previous Conservative government chose not to pursue it as part of a post-Brexit trade agreement.
Speaking to the BBC at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, Mr Sefcovic said the idea had not been “precisely formulated” and the “ball is in the UK’s court”.
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