EXCLUSIVENow the Brexit retreat begins! Boris Johnson warns UK is 'on the road to serfdom'... as we reveal Starmer plans talks with EU leaders over new relationship

  • Prime Minister wants to relax freedom of movement and remove trade barriers
  • EU sources believe he is willing to sign the UK back up to some Brussels rules
  • But Boris Johnson warned: 'We are on the road to serfdom under Starmer'

By Glen Owen And Anna Mikhailova For The Mail On Sunday

Published: | Updated:

Sir Keir Starmer will start the process to renegotiate Britain's post-Brexit deal within weeks, The Mail on Sunday has been told.

The new Prime Minister wants more relaxed freedom of movement rules and lower trade barriers, EU sources believe, and is willing to sign the UK back up to some Brussels rules in exchange. 

They are expecting him to use a summit at Winston Churchill's birthplace, Blenheim Palace, later this month to unofficially set the wheels in motion. 

But Boris Johnson last night sounded the alarm about any renegotiation, warning: 'We are on the road to serfdom under Starmer.'

And his Brexit negotiator Lord Frost said Labour would take every chance to 'chip away at our national independence'.

Sir Keir Starmer will start the process to renegotiate Britain's post-Brexit deal within weeks, The Mail on Sunday has been told

Sir Keir Starmer will start the process to renegotiate Britain's post-Brexit deal within weeks, The Mail on Sunday has been told

The new Prime Minister wants more relaxed freedom of movement rules and lower trade barriers, EU sources believe, and is willing to sign the UK back up to some Brussels rules in exchange. Pictured: President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen

The new Prime Minister wants more relaxed freedom of movement rules and lower trade barriers, EU sources believe, and is willing to sign the UK back up to some Brussels rules in exchange. Pictured: President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen

Sir Keir will host nearly 50 leaders from across Europe at Blenheim on July 18, and is expected to seize the chance to lobby France, Germany and other powerful EU countries in private.

Sources expect him to seek the removal of trade barriers in exchange for 'dynamic alignment' – Brussels jargon for being subject to EU red tape.

Labour last night insisted the issue was 'not on the agenda', but Sir Keir has previously promised a 'much better' trade deal with Brussels than the five-year agreement Mr Johnson signed in 2020.

Small steps will sell out Brexit by stealth

Analysis by By Mick Hume, Political commentator

Is Sir Keir Starmer aiming to set a record for the fastest betrayal of an election pledge?

It appears that this former champion of a second Brexit referendum is making discreet plans to take the knee to the EU. 

It is a piecemeal process of selling out Brexit by stealth. What an insult to the memory of Sir Winston Churchill for his family's ancestral home to host an event that Brussels hopes will bring Britain back into its regulatory orbit.

And how cheated will the Leave-voting 'Red Wall' feel?

No 10 and Brussels will insist negotiations have nothing to do with rejoining the EU. 

Any changes to border rules would, for example, be limited to specific groups – perhaps the young or Britons wishing to take their dog on holiday. 

But this is the thin end of the wedge. Any changes to migration and travel arrangements that the EU agrees, however harmless they might seem, would inevitably take Britain closer to obeying Brussels' rules.

We would become rule- takers, not rule-makers.

Starmer might also claim that he wants a deal to return illegals who cross the Channel. 

But does anyone think that would be possible without the UK having to accept an EU quota of migrants picked up in the Med, as already imposed on other member states?

The 17 million who voted Leave may soon have something to say about any Starmer capitulation to the Continent that would make Churchill spin in his grave.

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The EU sources expect the new deal to cover agriculture, chemicals, consumer goods, airlines, cars and pharmaceuticals. 

They also think the UK will ask for a relaxation of freedom of movement rules for certain sectors such as the music industry, and that in return the UK would have to agree to be bound by some EU red tape again.

Lord Frost said: 'Whatever Labour may have said before the election, we can expect them now to take every opportunity to start chipping away at our national independence. 

'Whether it's on the formal agenda or not, every meeting with the French, Germans, and EU Commission will be conducted with this in mind.

'If they now want a deal involving dynamic alignment they will have to pay the price of subordination to the EU's laws and the EU's court. 

'But that's not what the British people voted for in 2016 and if Labour start going back on Brexit they will pay a political price.'

On Friday, Sir Keir told European Commission president Ursula von der Leyen that he wanted 'close cooperation' with the bloc. 

Yesterday he told German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, he wanted to 'greater economic cooperation', and a call with embattled French President Emmanuel Macron covered 'shared priorities, including migration and the economy'.

News of the Brexit renegotiation plans came as:

  • Sir Keir held his first Cabinet meeting and warned of 'tough decisions' ahead – although he denied that meant tax rises – and insisted that he has a 'clear mandate', despite only one in five of the electorate backing Labour;
  • The PM said there were 'too many prisoners, not enough prisons,' as the MoS established that new Prisons Minister James Timpson has advocated releasing inmates when they are just a quarter of the way through their sentences;
  • Migrants on the French coast cheered Sir Keir's decision to axe the Rwanda deportation scheme, which he described as 'dead and buried before it started';
  • Possible Tory leadership contenders, led by former Ministers Kemi Badenoch and Tom Tugendhat are considering their next moves, amid fears Reform UK leader Nigel Farage could overshadow any contest by drawing attention to the so-called 'Starmada' of small boats crossing the Channel this summer – and so come across as the 'real' Leader of the Opposition.

The European Political Community summit at Blenheim, Oxfordshire, was originally put in the diary under Rishi Sunak's premiership to discuss the future of the continent. 

But a Brussels source said: 'We expect this to be the moment at which Starmer unofficially sets out his offer on trade to the big EU players.'

Boris Johnson last night sounded the alarm about any renegotiation, warning: 'We are on the road to serfdom under Starmer'

Boris Johnson last night sounded the alarm about any renegotiation, warning: 'We are on the road to serfdom under Starmer'

The so-called Trade and Cooperation Agreement that Mr Johnson signed will be reviewed in 2025.

An EU source said: 'Sir Keir has already promised farmers and others that he would reduce friction on the borders, but the only way that is going to be allowed by Brussels is if Britain accepts the relevant EU laws and judgments'.

Another source said: 'Just because he has ruled out joining the customs union, it doesn't mean that he won't sign up to a customs union. 

'But Brussels doesn't like 'cherry-picking' arrangements, they expect something in return. 

New deal? Sir Keir Starmer, pictured in 2019 as Shadow Brexit Secretary, may be looking to reset the UK's relationship with the EU

New deal? Sir Keir Starmer, pictured in 2019 as Shadow Brexit Secretary, may be looking to reset the UK's relationship with the EU

Boris Johnson, pictured in 2019 said: 'Behind these harmless sounding agreements is the reality that the UK will be accepting rules set by Brussels with no UK say on the making of those rules'

Boris Johnson, pictured in 2019 said: 'Behind these harmless sounding agreements is the reality that the UK will be accepting rules set by Brussels with no UK say on the making of those rules'

'There's a split in Sir Keir's team between those who want to proceed cautiously and those who want to take more radical steps to unwind Brexit.'

One option being considered by Labour advisers is to ask Brussels for a new deal to make it easier for businesses to move people between the UK and the EU, and a similar concession for 18-21-year-olds.

They are considering a move towards alignment on climate and energy policy and a new security deal, as well as membership of institutions such as Europol and the European Medicines Agency.

Earlier this month, Sir Keir said: 'I've been really clear about not rejoining the EU, the single market or the customs union or a return to freedom of movement.'

But polls have found that 78 per cent of Labour voters would also vote to go back into Europe. 

Meanwhile, the Labour Movement for Europe, which campaigns for the UK to re-enter the single market published a list of 47 new Labour MPs it 'formally endorsed', signalling an increased pro-Europe sentiment in the Commons.

Former Tory leader Sir Iain Duncan Smith said: 'Starmer is going to come under real pressure very quickly from people who say, if we were part of the EU we would have a better economy. 

'This is a thin facade for an ambition of the hardcore Remainers who have never given up on re-entry.'

Boris Johnson said last night: 'The great sell-out begins. Behind these harmless sounding agreements is the reality that the UK will be accepting rules set by Brussels – no matter how onerous – with no UK say on the making of those rules. 

'We are on the road to serfdom under Starmer.'

A Labour spokesman said trade negotiations are 'not on the agenda' of the summit, adding: 'It is not the right forum for those conversations. There will be no return to freedom of movement.'

Keir StarmerBoris JohnsonBrussels