OPINION
Prime Minister Keir Starmer (Image: Getty)
The new EU-UK trade deal is a tiptoe towards the kind of deal Switzerland has with the EU. If Sir Keir Starmer is indeed edging Britain towards such a model it makes a mockery of Brexit, which was designed to be a clean break from Brussels. At first blush the deal looks reasonable enough: a new food and drink agreement, continuation of an existing fishing deal as well as cooperation on defence and crime.
But don't be fooled. This deal goes further than what any other government ever considered post-Brexit. The headline may be a fishing sell-out, with EU vessels able to fish in UK waters for 12 years – albeit with a licence – but the food and drink deal effectively prevents any comprehensive trade deal with, say, the USA.
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Piecemeal agreements yes. Anything more substantive is now unlikely. Has Sir Keir then tied Britain's hands when it comes to unlocking the benefits of Brexit? Then there is the youth mobility scheme which, while not quite on the scale of previous freedom of movement – and is admittedly similar to deals with Australia, Canada and New Zealand – feels suspiciously like rejoining the bloc via the back door.
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The Swiss model of bilateral agreements aligning Switzerland with the EU would be fair enough for the UK if it had been on the referendum question in 2016. But it wasn't. Of course this will all be packaged as easing regulations and boosting the economy.
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But exploring participation in the EU's electricity market? Making it easier for people to get visas? Linking the EU and UK emissions trading systems? This feels more like alignment up to the point of semi-detached membership. But, why? The EU is growing at a slug's pace, while geography has never mattered less when it comes to economics or geopolitics.
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Today's sunrise economies are in Asia and Africa, many in the Commonwealth. Heck, even our sibling countries like Australia and Canada outpace the sclerotic EU. Shipping has never been cheaper while language brings countries closer than physical proximity. Britain's future – both economically and politically – should be in the Anglosphere and Commonwealth, not the EU.
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Again, the fishing deal is especially destructive to Britain's coastal communities. Labour has surely boosted Reform UK's chances in all-important seaside constituencies. The migration deal meanwhile feels like edging back towards freedom of movement. How long before Britain signs back up to freedom of capital, goods and services, further undermining her capacity to make new global trade deals?
The Swiss model was not on the 2016 referendum question. But now it feels like this is where Britain is heading. As Labour betrays the Red Wall and coastal Britain, Nigel Farage is surely to be the beneficiary.