𝓤𝓷𝓲𝓽𝓮𝓭 𝓝𝓮𝔀𝓼

Nigel Farage and Reform UK have vowed to reverse Sir Keir Starmer’s “outrageous” Brexit betrayal if they win power. Sir Keir has sparked fury with plans to bring the UK back under Brussels’ control without even allowing proper scrutiny in Parliament.

Measures to be unveiled in the King’s Speech on May 13 will give the Government powers to “dynamically align” the UK with EU rules using secondary legislation. That is likely to mean new rules being rubber-stamped by MPs, as Parliament can either approve or reject secondary legislation but cannot amend it.

The aim is to ensure the UK follows single market rules, giving the country access to the EU’s internal market. But critics say it effectively reverses the decision to quit the EU and make Britain an independent nation again.

Reform UK deputy leader Richard Tice revealed plans to reverse the move if Mr Farage becomes Prime Minister. He said: “Outrageous. Labour plots to deny MPs vote on new EU sell-out. Reform will reverse such a betrayal.”

Sir Keir is planning a new summit with the EU to ratify elements of his “reset” with Brussels that have already been agreed, but also to go further with “more ambitious” plans.

To add insult to injury, the meeting is expected to take place around June 23, the 10th anniversary of the historic Brexit referendum.

Labour has pledged not to return the UK to the EU’s single market, but Sir Keir recently said: “I’m ambitious that we can do more in relation to the single market because I think that’s in our interest.

“Obviously, this is a matter of negotiation and discussion, but the summit we have this year will not be just be a stock-take summit … it will be a deliberate ambition on our part to go further than that and co-operate more deeply, including in the economic sphere.”

The EU is warning that market access will require the UK to make a financial contribution to its “cohesion policy”, designed to lift up poorer regions of member states.

The UK-EU reset legislation enabling the use of the so-called Henry VIII powers is expected to be part of the King’s Speech package set out on May 13.

Initial legislation granting the new powers to ministers will go through the usual process of scrutiny. But critics said the plan to allow the use of secondary legislation for dynamic alignment with Brussels – changing the UK’s rules to mirror those set in Brussels to make trade easier – would sideline Westminster.

A government spokesman said: “The Bill will go through Parliament in the normal way.

“Any new treaties or deals with the EU will also face parliamentary scrutiny, and Parliament will have a role in approving new EU laws required under those deals via secondary legislation.

“This will allow us to deliver a food and drink trade deal worth £5.1billion a year, backing British jobs and slashing costly red tape for our farmers, producers and businesses.”

The Government has repeatedly made clear the UK will not rejoin the single market, but Chancellor Rachel Reeves has set out that areas where the UK diverts from the Brussels rules should be the “exception, not the norm”.

The plans under the new “UK-EU reset Bill”, as it has been unofficially called within Whitehall, would give the Government the mechanism to adopt EU rules in areas where it has signed deals with Brussels.

A Whitehall source said: “We are clear Parliament will have a role for new deals and on new EU laws applying under those deals.”

There are circumstances where votes can be held on approving pieces of secondary legislation, but they do not have the same level of scrutiny as a new law.

But any blocking votes would be likely to cause issues with the EU and could spark retaliatory action by Brussels.

Britain and the EU are aiming to finalise negotiations on a youth mobility scheme in time for a joint summit this summer.

They also want to secure a common sanitary and phytosanitary area – which would apply to the movement of plants and food – and agree on a way to link their emissions trading systems by that time.

Shadow Business Secretary Andrew Griffith said: “Parliament reduced to a spectator while Brussels sets the terms is exactly what the country rejected.

“Labour’s dire management of the economy has driven Starmer scurrying to Brussels to distract from his own failings.

“Labour are still fighting the referendum because they fundamentally cannot accept the democratic decision the British people made.

“We should be seizing the opportunities of Brexit, however, Starmer’s weakness on the world stage has made this near-impossible.”