Britain will have to pay into the European Union’s budget under Sir Keir Starmer’s Brexit reset deal, according to reports. New EU documents state that the UK must make financial contributions to the bodies that manage food standards and the carbon market rules that it will follow under the new agreement.
The papers, reported by The Telegraph, also make clear that Britain will be blocked from making any changes to the rules. The Tories and Reform UK hit out at the Prime Minister over the deal with Brussels.
Shadow Foreign Secretary Dame Priti Patel said: “Keir Starmer has made Britain a rule-taker from Brussels, and British taxpayers will now pay into the EU budget. Labour does not stand up for Britain on the world stage.
“They give away our money to foreign countries and allow them to make decisions about us.”
Reform UK deputy leader Richard Tice added: “By signing this deal before even agreeing how much these payments will be, Starmer has effectively signed a blank cheque on the UK’s behalf.
“We should not be paying into a club we voted to leave at all, of course. Starmer has betrayed his claims to respect the Brexit vote.”
Details are included in a European Commission paper on the terms of the deal agreed by Sir Keir in May.
Under the pact, the UK follow EU rules on food standards and submit to the jurisdiction of the European Court of Justice to ease red tape on agricultural exports and boost trade.
The documents say: “The UK should bear appropriate costs for participation in the common sanitary and phytosanitary area and for the implementation of the agreement to link the UK and the Union’s greenhouse emissions trading systems.
“The UK should contribute financially to supporting the relevant costs associated with the Union’s work in these policy areas.”
It adds: “Neither agreement should give the UK the right to participate in the Union’s decision-making.”