Starmer’s EU reset: liberty bound by the EU

Leaving the EU meant exiting its political and legal jurisdiction – of course. Starmer now looks set to bind us as a partial rule taker. Northern Ireland's Unionists must beware of supporting him.

Keir Starmer’s forthcoming “EU reset” has been widely trailed, and the signs are ominous. Labour is preparing to reverse key aspects of our departure from the European Union, inching us back towards Brussels’ orbit under the comforting language of “reset,” “pragmatism” and “good relations.”

What is coming looks much more like capitulation than compromise.

Liberty bound by the EU

The most egregious example is the proposed “veterinary agreement”. Make no mistake: this is not a sensible, mutual recognition deal like the EU’s arrangement with New Zealand. It will be dynamic alignment: becoming a rule taker with no say. That would be a repudiation of the fundament choice made at the referendum and a bad idea in practice.