Leave Brexit alone, Sunak tells Sir Keir

BREXIT is done and should not be reopened, Rishi Sunak said yesterday – in a direct rebuke to Sir Keir Starmer.

The Prime Minister said the Government had ‘delivered the result of the referendum’ and urged people to stop trying to unpick it.

Sir Keir triggered alarm about Labour’s intentions this week when he vowed to reopen the deal with Brussels in order to get a ‘closer trading relationship’ with the EU.

Mr Sunak hit back yesterday during media interviews at the G7 summit in Hiroshima, saying that concerns of individual sectors such as the car industry could be addressed without unpicking the whole deal.

Asked whether the Brexit deal negotiated by Boris Johnson should be reopened, he told ITV News: ‘No. We’ve had this debate multiple times... We’ve delivered the result of the referendum.

‘We have actually an incredibly deep trade deal with the EU. I don’t think there is a bilateral deal anywhere in the world that is as deep and as comprehensive as the trade deal that the UK has with the EU. I mean, that’s just the facts.’

Vauxhall’s parent company Stellantis warned this week that it would not be able to keep a commitment to building electric vehicles in the UK unless parts of the deal were changed. But Mr Sunak pointed out that European car makers are also protesting about the rules around batteries for EVs, and said talks were already underway to find a fix. ‘Many car manufacturers around Europe have raised this... we’re looking at ways that it might be addressed,’ he said.

Mr Sunak added: ‘I want to stop the boats. Part of our ability to do that is having good cooperation with our allies.’

He said: ‘We have cooperation with the French and... we’ve opened up negotiations with the EU Border Agency to share intelligence. They are all signs we and I can work with our allies and bring real benefits for people at home.’

Meanwhile, reports emerged that Labour plans to rejoin the Dublin migrant return agreement – which could see more refugees taken in by the UK. The pact – which Britain left in 2020 – previously allowed the UK to return illegal migrants to the EU nation where they first arrived.

While intended to enable the easier transfer of asylum seekers to other European countries, the UK was a net recipient of refugees as part of the agreement. In the four years between the 2016 Brexit referendum and the UK opting out of the agreement, Britain took in 2,579 people net.

Last night Matt Vickers, deputy chairman of the Conservative Party, said: ‘This is more concrete evidence of Sir Shifty’s undeniable plans to drag us back into the EU... Only the Conservatives can be trusted to safeguard Brexit.’ A Labour spokesman said: ‘The Conservatives have completely failed to get a proper return agreement with Europe.’