No rewind on Brexit, minister says following reset talks

There will be no “rewind” on Brexit, a minister has said, as he pledged to reject the ideological past and work with the European Union in the UK’s national interest.

In a statement on UK-EU relations, Cabinet Office minister Nick Thomas-Symonds said the Government intends to make Brexit work in a “ruthlessly pragmatic” way.

This comes after Sir Keir Starmer met EU leaders in Brussels on Monday as part of plans to reset relations, with the Prime Minister committing to reducing trade barriers.

On Thursday, Mr Thomas-Symonds told the Commons: “This Government will be guided by what I’m calling ruthless pragmatism, working in the UK’s national interest, to make people across the UK safer, more secure and more prosperous.

“The Government’s position is that it is in the British national interest to improve our economic, safety and security relationships with our nearest neighbours.

“We reject the ideological approach of the past and will make a hard-headed assessment of the British national interest.”

He added: “This Government has been clear that we are not hitting rewind, we are not undoing Brexit, and we are not rejoining the single market or the customs union.

“But we are looking to make Brexit work in a ruthlessly pragmatic way. That is the spirit we are taking into the discussions with the EU, not a zero-sum game, but a win-win for both sides, with people in the UK and across the EU benefiting.”

Shadow Cabinet Office minister Alex Burghart pressed the Government on what it wants to achieve from negotiations with the European Union.

He said: “(Mr Thomas-Symonds) talks of ruthless pragmatism in negotiations with the EU, I wonder if this will be the same ruthless pragmatism that is bringing us the Chagos deal.

“Will it be the same ruthless pragmatism that has caused the Government to spend £9.4 billion a year on above-inflation pay rises for unionised sectors, without any promise of reform?

“Perhaps the same ruthless pragmatism that saw the collapse of the £450 million AstraZeneca deal last week. When Labour negotiates, our country loses.”

He added: “What does the Government actually want from these negotiations? What are the tangible gains it hopes to make? What are its red lines?”

Mr Burghart also urged the Government to confirm there would be no reduction to the UK’s fishing rights.

“A word of advice to him, fish are very important. Very important in these negotiations,” he said.

“It’s reported that our friends and allies in the French republic have said that nothing can be negotiated until fish are negotiated. Will he confirm that he has told them very firmly and politely,” he said, before adding in a French accent: “Non.”

Mr Burghart also said a return to the European Court of Justice (ECJ) would be “completely unacceptable” and asked the minister to clarify his position on the Pan-Euro-Mediterranean (PEM) Convention.

In response, Mr Thomas-Symonds said “forgive me if the Conservative Party isn’t top of the queue for advice on how to negotiate international agreements” after they spent hundreds of millions to send “some volunteers and most of their home secretaries” to Rwanda.

On the ECJ, he said: “(Mr Burghart) was part of a government that negotiated a role for the European Court of Justice in the Windsor Framework.”

Mr Thomas-Symonds continued: “Is (Kemi Badenoch) going to face down the ideologues in her own party? Is she going to show some political courage and back the national interest?”

Labour MP Phil Brickell said a visa scheme for young people to live and work short-term in the EU would not “rub up against the Government’s red lines”.

On the issue of an EU-UK youth mobility scheme, the MP for Bolton West said: “As a former Erasmus student myself, may I urge (Mr Thomas-Symonds) to look at the current schemes already in place with countries ranging from South Korea to Uruguay, to Australia, to New Zealand, and the immense cultural, economic and societal benefits that come from those which do not rub up against the Government’s red lines on single market access, customs union membership and freedom of movement?”

Mr Thomas-Symonds replied: “(Mr Brickell) makes a powerful point and of course, I think, if you look back in recent decades, I think there are many people in this House who have had the benefits of studying abroad.

“As (he) points to, though, the red lines upon which this Government was elected are fundamental.”