Angus Robertson, the Scottish constitution secretary, said Labour had struck a deal on fishing “without any recourse, involvement or approval of devolved administrations”.
He tweeted: “Scottish government received no documentation or draft proposals in advance. I asked UK minister last week for this. Nothing received. Reset?”
A Scottish fishing industry body has described the 12 year-deal extension of EU catch quotas as “disastrous”.
Elspeth Macdonald, who represents more than 400 fishing boats as chief executive of the Scottish Fishermen’s Federation, described the deal as a “total capitulation to the EU”.
She said the multi-year deal meant the Scottish fishing industry would lose any leverage it had through annual negotiations. “It would be a terrible deal for Scottish fishermen,” she told Good Morning Scotland on the BBC.
Leaders arrive at Lancaster House
That’s where the deal is being unveiled. A press conference is due at about 12.30pm.
Sir Keir Starmer with Antonio Costa and Ursula von der Leyen, respective presidents of the European Council and European Commission
HENRY NICHOLLS
The chief negotiators: Maros Sefcovic for the EU and Nick Thomas-Symonds, right, for Britain
HENRY NICHOLLS
Kaja Kallas, the EU foreign affairs chief and former Estonian prime minister
HENRY NICHOLLS
Ex-Marks and Spencer chair: This is a win
TIMES PHOTOGRAPHER RICHARD POHLE
The Conservative peer Lord Rose of Monewden, former chairman of Marks & Spencer, supports the deal.
“It has to be a win,” he told Times Radio. “It’s five years since we did the deal in 2020. But in reality, look what has happened in the world since then. There’s been massive global change. And the UK is finding itself increasingly stranded now. And we’ve got to find a role for ourselves.
“And then we’ve been ignoring the 250 million people across the channel, 20 miles away, who are the power base in this part of the world. And we should be attached to them. We shouldn’t be talking about surrender. And we shouldn’t be talking about what we’re giving up. We should be talking about opportunity, opportunity, opportunity.”
Reform predicts end of fishing industry
Nigel Farage at Grimsby fishing dock during the former Brexit Party’s campaign in 2019
DANNY LAWSON/PA
Richard Tice, deputy leader of Reform, just told Times Radio: “Starmer has surrendered — lock, stock and barrel. He’s waved the white flag and kissed goodbye to UK fishing.
“And my constituents in Boston & Skegness will be raging mad this morning if this news is true. It’s unbelievable. The EU apparently asked for four or five years and Starmer has surrendered about 12 years. Mind boggling.”
Nigel Farage, the Reform leader, said 12 years of EU access would “be the end of the fishing industry”.
Jonathan Reynolds, the business and trade secretary
ALAMY
Jonathan Reynolds has denied it was a mistake to set a deadline for a deal at today’s UK-EU summit, insisting it helped break the deadlock.
While the EU used Britain’s desire to announce a deal today to extract last-minute concessions on fish, the business secretary argued that the timeline concentrated minds. “Sometimes you need something to force things along a little bit,” he told Sky News.
Are we finally getting over Brexit?
ILLUSTRATION BY TONY BELL
For all their frustrations, most voters in Rod Liddle’s Leave-backing area of the northeast don’t mind closer EU ties — they’re moving on, and so is he.
Tories attack concessions
The Conservatives say Britain’s concession on fishing is “very concerning”.
Kemi Badenoch, the Tory leader, said: “12 years’ access to British waters is three times longer than the govt wanted. We’re becoming a rule-taker from Brussels once again. And with no details on any cap or time limits on youth mobility, fears of free movement returning will only increase. This is very concerning.”
Victoria Atkins, the shadow environment secretary, said the fishing industry had been “sacrificed” to get a deal over the line, calling it “far worse than we anticipated”
£360m for fishing and coastal areas
Ministers will promise a £360 million fund this morning for Britain’s coastal communities as they try to counter accusations of betraying the country’s fishermen.
Steve Reed, the environment secretary, is expected to announce a “fishing and coastal growth fund” to help the industry adapt after Britain gave the EU access to its waters for at least another 12 years.
Today’s deal will ease checks on British produce being sold in Europe. It’s good news for food exporters, says Jonathan Reynolds.
“We’ve got a situation where, after Brexit, we’ve got the same food standards in place on both sides of the border, yet our agricultural food exports are down by a fifth,” the business and trade secretary told the BBC.
“You can’t sell some products at all — I mean, a British sausage made in my constituency. You can’t sell those. Can’t sell burgers.
“We’ve got no real reason for that situation continuing, and, where we can work with our partners, where we can remove costs, where we can remove friction, that means cheaper bills in the long run.”
‘Fudge’ on youth mobility
Britain has agreed to negotiate a youth mobility deal with the EU, but Brussels has not yet accepted a hard cap on numbers. One text wrapped into the deal is understood to say that a scheme giving time-limited rights will be “controlled” after a fudge between Britain’s insistence on an annual limit and EU demands for a more open-ended scheme.
Labour is already being attacked for opening the door to more people arriving from the EU only a week after promising to cut immigration. But Jonathan Reynolds, the business secretary, insisted that “a capped scheme focused on young people, time limited” was “totally different” to freedom of movement and did not bring rights to access welfare.
Confused? This is what a youth mobility scheme means
Nick Thomas-Symonds, Britain’s chief negotiator in these talks, has confirmed that a deal has been reached.
Please enable cookies and other technologies to view this content. You can update your cookies preferences any time using privacy manager.
Fishing ‘not a trade-off’
Jonathan Reynolds, the business secretary, has defended Britain’s decision to give European fishing boats long-term access to UK waters, arguing British fishermen will benefit from being to sell their catch to the EU more easily.
“It’s not just about what you catch in the UK, it’s who you’re going to sell it to and actually, for agricultural, fish and shellfish products, 70 per cent of our exports are to the EU,” he told the BBC.
“That market access is fundamental to the prosperity of that industry, so it’s not a trade-off in that regard. It’s about delivering something that works for that sector.”
Hard-nosed EU isn’t doling out favours
Maros Sefcovic, the lead EU negotiator
RONALD WITTEK/EPA
By Chris Smyth, Whitehall Editor
Sir Keir Starmer will get his moment of triumph today, but only after the EU used his evident desperation to force a big concession on fish.
While the language today will be of friendship and a reset alliance after the acrimony of the Brexit years, the EU decision to play hardball last night shows that hard-nosed interests still prevail.
The outline of a deal was clear before the weekend; Nick Thomas-Symonds, Starmer’s chief negotiator, took to the airwaves to sell it even while talks were continuing. That gave Brussels a clear opportunity to come back and ask for more: EU negotiators made clear they were willing to torpedo Starmer’s big moment unless Britain conceded long-term access to fisheries.
While the British side pushed back against a permanent link between access for UK food exports and fish, they had to give some ground, and granted the EU a 12-year extension on current catch quotas.
Starmer will hope all this is forgotten if Britain becomes more prosperous and secure, arguing that most voters just want to move on from Brexit. But last night’s wobble was a reminder that a “reset” in relations does not mean Brussels is willing to do Britain any favours.
Reynolds hails ‘prize’
Without confirming that the deal is done, the business secretary said it would be a “real prize” for Britain.
Jonathan Reynolds told Times Radio earlier that the country’s arrangement with the EU since Brexit has had “huge gaps in it, not just on areas to do with trade, but to do with security as well.
“So this is about making people better off, about making the country more secure, about making sure there are more jobs in the UK.”
What’s in the UK-EU deal?
We’re about to see its full scope, but many elements have already been agreed. Everything we know so far is here, but here’s a brief summary:
● On defence, both sides agree to closer alignment on defence in a pact under which British troops could fight alongside European armies.
● Britain will agree to align with EU food safety and animal welfare standards in return for Brussels easing checks on British produce sold in Europe.
● On energy, both parties will merge their emissions trading schemes while promises of electricity market liberalisation will allow more interconnectors to be built between the UK and Europe.
EU given fisheries access until 2038
Britain has agreed to give the EU access to British fisheries until 2038 in a last-minute concession to get a deal over the line.
EU ambassadors are understood to be agreeing a deal after using Sir Keir Starmer’s desire to announce agreement today to force further movement.
British negotiators believe they have succeeded in persuading the EU to drop a formal link between fisheries access and a deal to ease British food exports, something which would have handed Brussels a powerful tool in future talks. But in return they have granted access to British waters for another 12 years after the current deal expires next year, far longer than the four years previously on the table.
Talks ran into the early hours because Brussels was demanding to tie the deal’s food export arrangements to long-term access to British fisheries.
Britain has been prepared to extend existing fishing quotas, currently 75 per cent of pre-Brexit levels, for another four years. The EU was stipulating that any future attempt to renegotiate quotas would allow it to reopen the food standards deal, meaning it could threaten to reimpose border checks.
A deal resetting relations between Britain and the European Union is expected to be signed in London today after negotiations that ran into the early hours.
It will be signed by Sir Keir Starmer and Ursula von der Leyen, president of the European Commission, at the first UK-EU summit since Brexit.
