EXCLUSIVE Starmer branded 'the closet Remainer who never got over losing referendum' as Tories claim EU deal will unleash 'free movement by the back door'

Daily Mail​

19-05-2025

Sir Keir Starmer was accused of being a 'closet Remainer' who failed to 'get over' the result of the 2016 EU referendum today as he revealed his new post-Brexit deal with Brussels.
Writing for MailOnline Andrew Griffith, the shadow business and trade secretary accused him of moving towards 'freedom of movement by the back door' with plans for a youth mobility scheme.
The Prime Minister has agreed to a 'youth experience' scheme with the EU that could allow thousands of 18 to 35-year-olds to come to Britain to live and work each year.
Officials have not put a figure on how many people would be admitted, with details yet to be hammered out.
But Sir Keir insisted that the number covered would be capped.
Such a scheme will allow young people from the EU to come to Britain - and UK nationals to head to the bloc - to work, study or simply travel for a 'limited period'.
The document also stated the 'dedicated visa path' would ensure 'the overall number of participants is acceptable to both sides'.
However Mr Griffith argued it would lead to 'low-wage, low skill migrants undercutting British workers, knocking young people down the housing ladder and driving salaries down.'
He added: 'Unlimited migration is the last thing we need. But the Youth Mobility Scheme Starmer is moving towards is free movement by the back door.'
Downing Street said the EU scheme would mirror the UK's existing youth mobility schemes with countries such as Australia and New Zealand.
This allows 18 to 35-year-olds from Down Under to apply for a youth mobility visa to live and work in the UK for up to two years, with the possibility for a one-year extension.
For this year, the number of youth visas is capped at 42,000 for Australians and 9,500 for those from New Zealand.
It has previously been reported the Government wants an annual cap of 70,000 visas for EU nationals under the proposed youth mobility scheme with Brussels.
A dispute over an annual cap - as well as EU nationals having to pay the NHS surcharge - were said to be major sticking points in agreeing the final terms of the scheme prior to Monday's summit.
Kemi Badenoch signalled she supported the principle of youth mobility schemes with EU countries, but stressed the Government's deal would not be beneficial to the UK.
'They are good ideas. We support them. What we do not support is non-capped, non-time limited migration,' the Conservative leader said when asked about the principle of such deals.
At a central London press conference, she added: 'There is a big difference between an 18-year-old from France who's coming for a gap year and a 30-year-old with several children who's coming from a much poorer EU country like Bulgaria, Romania.
'What we wanted to do was have youth mobility schemes with specific countries. That is not what we will get with what this Government is negotiating.'
We should have known this was coming. Starmer is the closet Remainer who never quite got over his side losing, writes Andrew Griffith
And there we have it – Keir Starmer's capitulation to the EU laid bare.
As his Ministers say, it is the first step. And they are right, it is the first step in a walk of shame back to the continent. It is a surrender summit. A Brexit betrayal. The cop-out conference that sells our hard-fought freedoms down the river.
We should have known this was coming. Starmer is the closet Remainer who never quite got over his side losing almost 10 years ago.
He energetically campaigned for a second referendum with free movement of people, and it looks like he will finally get his way.
Unlimited migration is the last thing we need. But the Youth Mobility Scheme Starmer is moving towards is free movement by the back door.
Sixty million people as far away as Bucharest would be covered by this scheme. That's uncontrollable levels of low-wage, low skill migrants undercutting British workers, knocking young people down the housing ladder and driving salaries down.
As if our troubles with low-wage migration were not bad enough, just as Starmer has begun to talk tough, he is EU-turning on commitments he made just last week. The PM is drowning out the sound of his old promises with Ode to Joy whilst he cheerfully hands over Britain's sovereignty.
Labour has already made the UK a hostile environment for businesses. Their jobs tax, hiked business rates and employment rights bill are the triple whammy, mercilessly knocking out businesses of all sizes across Britain. This deal gives them no respite. And taxpayers will have to pay for the privilege of being regulated by the EU.
The much-vaunted e-gates deal Starmer has been crowing about, and sacrificed so much for, is smoke and mirrors. We're right where we were before, as member states still need to agree to the measure first. The Government has also done a victory lap about adding 0.03 per cent onto our GDP by 2040. That pales in comparison to the costs they are burdening our businesses with, for example the EU's carbon pricing scheme – making Net Zero even more expensive.
Tying entire swathes of the economy to rules made in Brussels, may put a big grin on Ursula von der Leyen's face, but it will only hold us further back.
Keir Starmer is kicking businesses whilst they are down. Clearly, he still doesn't understand that only businesses create jobs – and any price is worth paying to rejoin his favourite club of out-of-touch liberal elites.
One Brexit dividends Britain has particularly benefitted from is our ability to sign trade deals. For example, the Trans Pacific Partnership Kemi Badenoch secured when she was Trade Secretary – which gives us access to a trading bloc larger than the EU with the fastest growing economies in the world. Taking us back to the EU curtails that ability, and locks us out of countless opportunities.
With Surrender Starmer, the world's worst negotiator in charge, that may not seem like many opportunities missed, but it will be hugely damaging for our long-term prospects.
Leaders the world over are now seeing the UK as a soft touch. Starmer is like the nervous schoolboy who hands over his lunch money without even being asked — so it's no wonder the world's playground bullies are queuing up. Far from being an island of strangers, Labour are fast making Britain an island of losers.
We had a vision for Britain where we could make our own laws, forge game-changing trade deals and be rule makers – not rule takers. The only vision our mediocre, middle manager-in-chief has in mind is one of a managed decline as a colony of the EU.
Today, Starmer has condemned Brexit to a death by a thousand bureaucratic cuts and people should not forgive, nor should they forget.