Brexit trade deal could be breached

Strikes crackdown angers EU as Tories say ‘minimum service levels ensure disruption is limited’

THE European Union has accused Britain of potentially breaching the Brexit trade deal with Rishi Sunak’s crackdown on strikes.

Brussels is considering whether to trigger a dispute with No 10 over minimum service levels.

The move raises the prospect of a public row between the two sides that could end up in extra tariffs on UK exports to Europe. The Government’s strike law allows train companies to force enough staff to turn up for work during walkouts so that they can run 40 per cent of their usual services.

Despite being handed the powers last summer, operators have been unwilling to use them, including during last week’s industrial action.

A row broke out over the Prime Minister’s introduction of the law in a meeting between British and EU officials in London last year.

EU bureaucrats said the stance on militant strikes meant the UK was watering down workers’ rights in a way banned by the Brexit trade deal.

Official minutes from the gathering said the EU “expressed concern on the compliance” of the legislation with “labour commitments” in the pact.

British officials said that the strikes crackdown was “compliant” because it does “not have an impact on trade or investment” with Europe.

When the two sides signed the deal in December 2020 they agreed not to lower their domestic labour standards below pre-brexit levels.

An EU source said that the European Commission was not satisfied with the UK’S explanation and was “looking into” further action. The row comes against a backdrop of unrest among Tory MPS about the UK’S failure to diverge from Brussels rules and regulations.

Tory backbenchers expressed concern last week over the new Northern Ireland deal that they fear will tie Britain into following more EU red tape.

Labour has promised to repeal minimum service level requirements, which also apply to nurses, teachers, firefighters and border guards.

Conservative MPS warned that Brussels’ intervention showed how it would work closely with Sir Keir Starmer to drag Britain back into its orbit.

David Jones, a former Brexit minister, said the opposition party’s position demonstrated how it would “meekly obey EU diktats” once in power.

“Minimum service levels are essential to ensure that disruption to the public by industrial action is not allowed to exceed reasonable levels,” he said.

“It is about time that the EU recognised that the economic difficulties they are currently experiencing will continue, unless there is reasonable regulation of industrial relations.

“Fortunately, their rules don’t apply in the UK, but there is no doubt that they would be adopted if Labour were to win the next election.”

A Conservative party source added: “This i s another example of how Labour’s plan to remain aligned to the EU is storing up problems.”

A government spokesman insisted that the legislation is “compatible with all our international trade obligations” including the Brexit deal.

‘This is another example of how Labour’s plan to remain aligned to the EU is storing up problems’