Eyeing cheaper goods, the UK goes on a trade deal spreehttps://en.majalla.com/node/325677/business-economy/eyeing-cheaper-goods-uk-goes-trade-deal-spree
Eyeing cheaper goods, the UK goes on a trade deal spree
The new trade deal with the EU is the third agreement the UK has clinched following deals with India and the US. Talks are also said to be underway for a new trade deal with the GCC.
Carl Court / AFP
Britain's Prime Minister Keir Starmer (L) and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen react after hosting a joint press conference during the UK-EU Summit at Lancaster House in London on May 19, 2025.
Eyeing cheaper goods, the UK goes on a trade deal spree
Announcing a new UK/EU trade deal this week, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer insisted it would provide cheaper food and energy for British people, heralding the agreement as “win-win” for the UK.
“Britain is back on the world stage,” Starmer said after shaking hands on the deal with Ursula von der Leyen, the head of the European Commission. “It gives us unprecedented access to the EU market, the best of any country.”
Starmer argued that the deal to remove restrictions on trade relating to food and agriculture would give a boost of £9bn to the UK economy, although this figure was disputed by the opposition Conservatives. Figures produced in a government briefing document claimed the deal would redress the 21% drop in exports and 7% drop in imports the UK had experienced since Brexit.
Starmer was keen to emphasise the important benefits the deal would deliver, including providing cheaper food in supermarkets and ending passport queues at European airports with a deal to allow travellers from the UK to use European e-gates. Downing Street said it hoped the new travel arrangements would be in place within a year.
Starmer argued that the deal to remove restrictions on trade relating to food and agriculture would give a boost of £9bn to the UK economy
Other aspects of the deal include allowing the UK to return to the Erasmus university exchange programme, and the creation of a youth mobility scheme that would allow young people access to the EU through work, study, and travel.
UK ministers have insisted the scheme will be capped and time-limited, similar to those deals struck with Australia and New Zealand. But officials said there were hard negotiations yet to be done on whether the capped numbers would be from individual member states or EU-wide.
The new trade deal with the EU is the third agreement the Starmer government has negotiated this month, following deals with India and the US. Negotiations are also said to be well underway for the UK to agree a new trade deal with the Gulf region.
Von der Leyen described the agreement with the UK as "a historic moment … opening a new chapter in our unique relationship".
Political firestorm
But while Starmer believes his new trade deal with the EU is an important step towards improving ties with Brussels, critics see it as a controversial attempt to repair relations with the European Union. The agreement has attracted fierce criticism from right-wing supporters of Brexit, with Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch branding his talks with Von der Leyen the "surrender summit", and vowing to reverse the deal if the Conservatives regain power.
Priti Patel, the shadow foreign secretary, added that the "surrender summit" in London and said Sir Keir had "betrayed Brexit and Britain and the 17 million people who voted to take back control".
Reform leader Nigel Farage, a prominent figure in the pro-Brexit campaign, described Starmer's deal as an "abject surrender", pointing out that one of the key issues during the Brexit vote was for the UK to take back control of its fishing waters. Instead, by allowing the EU access to UK fishing waters, Starmer's approach would result in the UK quickly becoming an island "with no fishing industry to speak of".
Meanwhile, Former British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, who led the campaign for the UK to leave the EU, was equally disparaging, branding the agreement an "appalling sell-out" that was "hopelessly one-sided" and "sacrificed UK fishing interests".
Relations between London and Brussels have been strained since Britons voted, by a small majority, to leave the EU, the trading bloc that the UK had first joined back in 1975, which was then called the Common Market.
The desire to retain control of UK sovereignty, which pro-Brexit campaigners argued was being undermined by Brussels bureaucrats, together with concerns over soaring migration, were key factors in the decision to end the UK's four-decade-long membership of the EU.
Britain's Prime Minister Keir Starmer attends a meeting with business leaders in central London on January 28, 2025.
Buyer's remorse?
But while high-profile Brexit campaigners, such as Johnson, argued that the UK would flourish on the world stage as a result of Brexit, many British voters have remained doubtful about the benefits of leaving the EU.
The desire, moreover, to improve the UK's relations with Brussels has intensified since Starmer's Labour Party won a sizeable majority during last year's general election, when the Conservative administration of Rishi Sunak, which had continued to support Brexit, suffered a heavy defeat at the polls.
As many senior Labour politicians—including Starmer—were completely opposed to Brexit, it has come as little surprise that, since taking office, the new Labour government has been keen to negotiate a new trade deal with the EU.
And while Starmer insists that he has no intention of going against the wishes of the British people and reversing Brexit, the new UK trade deal with Brussels the British leader outline this week has both encouraged anti-Brexit campaigners that the UK is moving closer to Europe, while causing outrage among Brexiteers who believe the Starmer government is ultimately determined to rejoin the EU.
If, by agreeing on a new trade deal with the EU, Starmer thought he would be able to finally lay the UK's bitter Brexit debate to rest, the British prime minister may need to think again.
