Burnham Sets a Brussels Date and Puts a Price on It
The prime minister told the Commons that sticking with the status quo “would be a major dereliction of duty to turn away” from, and confirmed he meets European leaders in Brussels on 20 November. He put the package at more than £10bn a year by 2040 and promised “at every stage, the British public will be the boss”.
This morning that phrase belonged to an unnamed Downing Street source; this afternoon he said it himself, which is the advance. What is actually on offer remains narrower than the rhetoric: an agreement on food and drink standards, linked emissions trading, energy cooperation, a youth experience scheme and closer work on migration. He was careful to describe only a “serious dialogue about the different options” on the longer-term relationship, and did not promise to reopen the trade deal itself. The numbers are the persuasive part. Scottish salmon exporters face checks on every consignment, costing around £100m in lost trade; a single farm shipment can carry up to £1,400 of paperwork; export health certificates run to £200 each for small firms. A proposed energy deal could cut wholesale costs in Northern Ireland by a fifth. Kemi Badenoch accused him of casting doubt on the referendum result, and Downing Street confirmed separately that the prime minister regards that result as legitimate, while calling Russian attempts to exploit it “inconceivable” to rule out.