EU talks go 'down to wire' as SNP demand return to bloc

Sir Keir Starmer is expected to announce a deal with the EU when he meets European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and European Council President Antonio Costa in London on Monday.

It is expected to include agreements on allowing British travellers to use e-gates at European airports, cutting red tape on food exports and imports, and setting up a youth mobility scheme with the EU. The agreement will also give the UK access to a £125 billion EU defence fund.

It comes as the Scottish Tories issued warnings over the future of fisheries, and the SNP repeated calls to return to the EU.

Speaking on Sunday, Cabinet Office minister Nick Thomas-Symonds explained the final details of the deal were still being worked out, with talks going “to the wire”.

Monday’s summit has been expected to bring an announcement on British access to a 150 billion euro (£125 billion) EU defence fund, in what could be a boost for UK defence companies.

Mr Thomas-Symonds would not give details of the prospective deal during broadcast interviews on Sunday, telling the BBC’s Sunday With Laura Kuenssberg: “Nothing is agreed until everything is agreed.”

But he said the Government had been pushing for British citizens to be able to use EU queues at airports once again, and he was “confident” that a deal on food could be reached.

He said: “We know we’ve had lorries waiting for 16 hours, fresh food in the back not able to be exported because frankly it’s just going off, red tape, all the certifications that are required, we absolutely want to reduce that.”

He also suggested the UK could be open to aligning with EU rules in some areas “to make sure we get far easier trade”, saying this was “a sovereign choice”, and he said any youth mobility scheme would have to be “smart and controlled”.

Both Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch and Reform UK leader Nigel Farage have already described the deal as a “surrender” and said they would rip it up if they came to power, despite none of the details being confirmed.

Mrs Badenoch has previously claimed a return to the youth mobility scheme would involve a return to free movement “by the back door”.

Shadow Cabinet Office minister Alex Burghart told Sky News’ Sunday Morning With Trevor Phillips there were “very limited circumstances” in which the Tories would support a scheme, saying it must not be “uncapped”.

Existing schemes with countries including Australia and Canada involve limited numbers and require a visa, but the details of any EU scheme remain to be seen.

It comes as the Scottish Tories urged the Prime Minister not to sell out fishermen in what they called a “Starmer surrender summit”.

Currently, EU boats are only allowed to catch 75 per cent of what they could pre-Brexit in British waters – an agreement set to expire next year.

Buckie-based Scottish Conservative fishing spokesman Tim Eagle said: “The upcoming UK-EU summit must not be the Starmer surrender summit.

“Keir Starmer has the chance to protect the industry rather than selling out fishermen by using them as a bargaining chip to get a deal over the line.

“Since leaving the EU and the Common Fisheries Policy (CFP), not only have we seen catches and landings increase but Scotland has had a far stronger voice in annual quota negotiations since the UK became an independent coastal state.

“The SNP would gladly sacrifice that by re-joining the CFP and the sector is rightly concerned that Labour will follow them by surrendering access to UK waters on Monday.

“Rather than sacrificing the future of Scotland’s fishermen, Keir Starmer must safeguard our waters by ensuring the industry has a voice at the summit.”

Elsewhere, the Lib Dems wrote to Labour MPs over the weekend, urging them to back closer trade ties with the EU to boost the public finances and avoid cuts to support for vulnerable families and pensioners.

Lib Dem leader Ed Davey said: "Keir Starmer must be bold and ambitious for our country in today's summit. Voters were promised change by this government, and they have to deliver.

"Being truly ambitious, including a new UK-EU customs union, would be the single biggest thing ministers could do to boost growth and fix the public finances.

"Anything less would be a choice to limit growth, harming living standards and hitting the NHS and other public services.

"The Prime Minister must ignore the dinosaurs fighting old battles, who want to drag us back to the destructive Brexit wars of the past, and focus on getting the best deal possible for the UK."

Speaking ahead of any announcement, the SNP claimed no deal would be better than returning to the bloc, almost a decade after the UK voted to leave.

The party’s Europe spokesman Stephen Gethins said: “Returning to the EU and returning to the single market and customs union should have been at the very top of the agenda at this EU-UK summit.

“After almost a decade of damage and decline in broken Brexit Britain – there are no ifs, buts or maybes about this – there will never be a better deal than being back in the EU.

“It is the biggest and the best growth strategy available and yet it is the only option the Labour Party have turned their face against – all because they are running scared of Nigel Farage.”