In negotiating the ‘reset’ in UK-EU relations, Keir Starmer has always sat on the EU’s side of the table, writes Steve Baker

Keir Starmer has done what he always intended: he sat down on the EU’s side of the table and gave them everything they wanted. This so-called “reset” is no triumph of diplomacy; it is a clear infraction of the UK’s interests, dressed up in the language of pragmatism and economic benefit.

The most egregious concession is the alignment on sanitary and phytosanitary (SPS) measures. Ministers claim this will ease trade and cut costs, but it locks the UK into the EU’s regulatory framework indefinitely. This is not mutual recognition as the EU has with New Zealand, where each party respects the other’s standards as equivalent. Instead, it is dynamic alignment, a........

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