Britain Just Hit Reset on Brexit

• ‘Brexit reset’ deal made with the EU, which brings the UK closer to the EU in a number of areas.

• Starmer has u-turned on last year’s decision to cut winter fuel payments for pensioners, though the full details have not yet been released.

• YouGov polling from Monday puts the Conservatives in 4th, while Reform have taken the lead.

• Criminals, including those convicted of violent crimes, could be released early under new plans to help reduce prison overcrowding.

• Public sector workers, including teachers and doctors, have been given pay rises. The BMA is unhappy with the rises for resident doctors, and could initiate strike action.

• The UK has given sovereignty of the Chagos Islands back to Mauritius, and will now lease back a military base for £101 million per year.

It’s been almost 9 years since the Brexit vote, and we’ve finally got a somewhat decent deal.

There is a lot to unpack here, so I’ll go through a quick list of everything that was mentioned, and then I’ll dive into some of the details.

• British passport holders now able to use European e-gates in ‘more’ EU countries

• The return of pet passports, to make it easier to take pets on holiday to the EU

• Reduced red tape on food and drink imports/exports

• Current fishing deal extended for 12 years

• New defence partnership

• UK & EU carbon limiting schemes to be linked

• Steel exports from Britain won’t face tariffs

• Further talks to happen on: youth mobility, Erasmus, crime, migration and electricity

See - I told you there was a lot. Definitely more substantial than the UK-US deal we got a few weeks ago.

Starting with passports - British passport holders will be able to use European passport e-gates in ‘more’ EU countries.

This is something that was rumoured to happen, but is still a welcome change.

Unfortunately, it doesn’t look like it will be implemented in time for the summer holidays, so be prepared for long queues at the border if you’re travelling to the EU this year.

Another caveat is that we don’t quite know where it will actually apply. All we do know is that it will be in ‘more’ countries.

Moving on, but sticking with the passports theme, we have pet passports. These will be returning to prevent the expensive process where pet owners had to get an animal health certificate before leaving the UK, and again before returning from the EU.

Next up, we will see reduced red tape on food and drink trade. As part of this, a new sanitary and phytosanitary (SPS) deal has been agreed.

This will mean that the ‘vast majority’ of checks for plant and animal products will be removed entirely, which will also simplify the trade process between Northern Ireland and the rest of the UK.

The government claims this could reduce food prices, though I am a little very sceptical.

Speaking of food, the current fishing deal will be extended, meaning EU ships can fish in UK waters, provided they have a valid license.

There will also be annual negotiations on access and share of stock.

Changing the topic entirely, we have defence. A new security and defence partnership has been agreed, allowing the UK’s defence industry to participate in the EU’s plan for a £150 billion defence fund.

Now, thinking about the environment, the UK’s and EU’s emissions trading systems will be linked.

Currently, the UK has a cap on greenhouse gas emissions for certain energy-intensive sectors. This cap allows businesses to trade their carbon allowance with each other.

The EU will introduce its own carbon tax next year, which now won’t affect UK businesses.

This next one is pretty straightforward - British steel exports will not be subject to the EU’s new rules and tariffs.

This could save the British steel industry a staggering £25 million per year!

There are still talks continuing in a number of areas, so expect to see more deals made in (hopefully) the next few months.

The first area for a potential deal is a youth mobility scheme. This would allow people aged 18-30 to move freely between the UK and EU for a limited period.

In a similar vein, there will be continued talks around Erasmus, the student exchange programme which was scrapped during Brexit.

There will also be discussions on crime, including closer cooperation between Europol and the UK National Crime Agency, as well as the potential for the UK to access the EU’s facial recognition data.

Talks around migration will also continue, with the goal of tackling illegal migration, while also making it easier for people to get visas to work in the UK and EU.

Finally, the UK and EU will look into the UK’s potential participation in the EU’s internal electricity market.

That’s everything we know for now, but you won’t want to miss any developments in those ongoing talks! Subscribe to Westminster Weekly to stay in the loop.

The Prime Minister has u-turned on last year’s decision to cut winter fuel payments for pensioners.

He said on Wednesday that he would review the threshold to allow “more pensioners” to qualify.

Currently, pensioners only qualify if they have an annual income of under £11,800.

It is thought that this limit will be raised, rather than being removed entirely, though winter fuel payments were originally for all pensioners.

A limit based on income does make sense, as there is no need for someone making a hundred thousand to get the extra £200, but the current limit is definitely too low.

Details on the exact changes have not been made available, but we can expect to find out more in the autumn budget.

YouGov has released new polling data, which shows the Conservatives in 4th place and Reform in 1st - GB News will have a field day with that one.

As of Monday, Reform was leading in the polls, with 29% of respondents saying they would vote for Reform.

Labour is second at 22%, followed by the Liberal Democrats at 17% and then the Conservatives at only 16%.

However, due to the nature of Britain’s electoral system, first past the post, this does not necessarily mean Reform would win an election, if it were held today. This is because first past the post tends to favour larger parties, such as Labour and the Conservatives.

The polling is still significant though, as it shows that the Conservatives are continuing to lose support.

In an attempt to reduce prison overcrowding, prisoners could be released after serving as little as a third of their sentence.

This could include those convicted of violent crimes, such as sex offences and domestic abuse.

This follows a review which recommended that more offenders be managed within their community, rather than serving a prison sentence.

The Justice Secretary, Shabana Mahmood, is also looking to expand the pilot of chemical castration for sex offenders, with the goal of a nationwide rollout.

This involves taking medication to limit sexual thoughts and lower testosterone after being released from prison.

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The government has given teachers and doctors in England a 4% pay rise.

Resident doctors will also get an extra £750 top-up, which will bring their pay rise to an average of 5.4%.

Other NHS staff, including nurses and midwives, have received a 3.6% pay rise.

Civil servants have also received a pay rise of 3.25%, and members of the armed forces have got a 4.5% pay rise, or 3.75% for senior military staff.

The British Medical Association has called the average 5.4% pay rise for resident doctors “woefully inadequate”, and has said it would ballot members next week over possible strikes.

In Starmer’s defence though, it is 5.4% more than they’d have got under the last government.

The Prime Minister has signed a deal to hand over the Chagos Islands to Mauritius, and to lease back a military base.

Under the deal, Mauritius gain sovereignty of the islands, but will allow both the US and UK to continue to run a military base on one of the islands.

The UK will now be leasing the base for £101 million per year, for an initial period of 99 years.

The government claims the net cost over the 99 years will be £3.4 billion, though Sky News has calculated it to be £10 billion, or as much as £30 billion when including inflation.

That is quite the variation, but Downing Street is sticking to its estimate, and has said that they’re adjusting for long-term costs and the value of the pound.

There’s been a lot going on these past couple weeks - Starmer introduced his plans to tackle immigration last week, and signed a ‘trade deal’ of sorts the week before.

Cover photo sourced from Number 10.