Weak Keir Starmer plans to bow down to EU at 'surrender summit'

Make no mistake - tomorrow is an EU surrender summit. Try as they might to convince everyone day is night, it is the latest step in Keir Starmer's walk back into the arms of the EU. Many people up and down the country voted for Brexit on the promise of delivering a vision of a global, buccaneering Britain - making our own rules, forging game-changing trade deals and being lawmakers - not law takers.

But the only vision our mediocre, middle manager-in-chief has in mind is one of dismal, managed decline. The jobs tax, the family farms tax, the winter fuel payment - all of it in the service of realising a grey and grisly vision of Great Britain. Tomorrow will be no different. Because when Labour negotiates, Britain loses.

As well as giving us the ability to tighten our borders, one of the main benefits of Brexit is the ability to sign our own trade deals. But Labour has dropped the ball on that, too. The India trade deal handed tax breaks to Indian workers at a time when taxes are going up on British workers and Starmer's talks with Trump left us with worse US tariffs than we had in March.

On both occasions, these deals have tied our country into lopsided agreements that favour foreign countries, their businesses and workers, whilst disadvantaging British ones. But nonetheless, Labour Ministers went on the media to perform premature victory laps. In both cases they surrender key strategic assets and do little to improve the lot of people in Britain.

We have set out five tests to protect Brexit. One of these is to prevent alignment with EU goods and services. Backsliding on this at tomorrow's summit would be a stab in the back for the country. Because any alignment will prevent a future government from taking full advantage of future trade deals.

It would make Britain a rule taker and hamstring our Brexit freedoms. Take the Trans-Pacific Partnership that Kemi Badenoch signed as Business Secretary. This opened up Britain to a free trade area with far larger economic output than Europe and with countries which are growing much faster.

That was only possible because we were able to forge our own deals on rules that are right for Britain - not 27 other countries different to our own. When Keir Starmer came in, he promised growth. That was a noble aim, but one he has utterly failed in so far. If he had any sense, he would listen to what businesses want and make the most of our departure from the EU.

For example, Labour should have used this review of our EU trade deal to secure new wins for Britain, such as an EU-wide agreement on Brits using e-gates on the continent.

Our businesses are crying out for some respite in Labour's war on business. The jobs tax is biting, inflation is ticking up and taxes are suffocating the economy. Even before the effects of this have come into effect, unemployment and inflation are both up, and living standards are set to stall.

Despite all of the warning lights flashing red, our Prime Minister's thinly veiled desire to rejoin seems to be clouding his judgement. He campaigned tirelessly for a second referendum, with free movement of people long after the decisive democratic vote in 2016. He even recently said his favourite piece of classical music is Ode To Joy, the EU's national anthem.

The EU has said fishing and migration are firmly on the table in any negotiations. And, having repeatedly denied a youth mobility scheme was on the table when he was campaigning for your votes, Keir Starmer's hand picked EU Minister has confessed he will be pursuing one and bring free movement in by the back door.

It is the perfect storm. Starmer said he will 'always' argue in favour of immigration and 'protect' free movement. And tomorrow we will see his death by a thousand cuts strategy begin to come together. I hope the Prime Minister can finally get a grip and fight in our national interest on the world stage. Sadly, the current weak and wobbly occupant of Number 10 is gearing up to wave the white flag from Downing Street and surrender everything. He should be focused on British businesses, not Brussels.