In a Commons showdown, Keir Starmer didn’t mince his words. He pointed out the “member for Clacton (Nigel Farage) – who is not here” and reminded MPs that, while Britain stays in the room to negotiate, Reform UK’s leader stays on his sun lounger.
🎯 “They simply do not care”
Starmer hit hard: “It’s also the member for Clacton – who is not here – …the member for Kingston (Sir Ed Davey)…have both shown in their own ways, that their parties simply do not care. And if your whole approach to our allies is about striking a pose, then you don’t get to strike a deal.”
🔥 Farage’s fiery critique…from afar
Just yesterday, Farage branded the EU deal a “betrayal of Brexit.” Yet he skipped Starmer’s statement on the agreement. The PM was quick to note that “this Government can and this Government will, because we stay in the room, we fight for the national interest, and we put the British people first.”
🤝 Deal delights businesses
Despite Tory and Reform grumbles, the pact won backing from industry. It allows British holidaymakers to use e-gates, scraps animal-product checks to cut food prices, revives chilled-meat exports, reintroduces Erasmus and promises a youth mobility scheme.
🎣 Fishing row redux
Starmer defended the compromise on fishing: “For years, we were told it couldn’t be done. What they meant was they couldn’t do it.” Tories like Kemi Badenoch and Farage howled at European boats staying in UK waters for 12 more years—yet they’d signed the same deal under Boris in 2020.
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