As recess draws towards its close, two issues continue to plague the government. The first: how best to attack Nigel Farage, riding high on a wave of migration outrage? The second: how to frame ministers’ modest protest, at a time when the national mood favours radical change? Today, it was the turn of Nick Thomas-Symonds to answer both. The Cabinet Office minister, who handles the brief of UK-EU relations, came to The Spectator to set out Labour’s Europe strategy.
Thomas-Symonds’s argument for Labour’s reset is one of pragmatic alignment – pursuing greater co-operation when beneficial to the British interest. After unveiling the long-awaited EU reset in March, he now plans to build on this in the autumn. In the coming weeks, Labour will start the detailed negotiations on the Sanitary and Phytosanitary (SPS) agreement, with the aim of bringing legislation to parliament by the beginning of 2027. Further deals will be drawn up in the areas of energy, security, illegal migration and data sharing policy.
‘Nigel Farage wants Britain to fail – his model of politics feeds on it’
Such agreements serve a dual purpose for this government. They hope to get an economic boost from removing the barriers to trade with the continent. But ministers also hope to create a trap into which opposition parties can fall, by suggesting that parties committed to reversing the EU reset would harm Britain’s growth prospects. Thomas-Symonds gave a good go at this today, attacking the ‘the Tories and Farage [for] fighting yesterday’s battles, trying to drag Britain backwards.’ Of the two parties, it was notable that Reform, not the Conservatives, came in for heavier shelling, with Thomas-Symonds insisting that ‘Nigel Farage wants Britain to fail – his model of politics feeds on it.’
When it came to questions, the room revealed a clear divide. Those from various assembled businesses and lobby groups were keen to talk more about removing Brexit red tape – while the political hacks invariably focused more on Labour’s migration strategy. Thomas-Symonds was cagey when pressed on Jack Straw’s comments today on the need to reform the ECHR, pointing journalists to the work done thus far to stop the boats. He labelled Farage’s comments on the Good Friday Agreement ‘irresponsible’ (Farage said that it could be renegotiated to accommodate Britain leaving the ECHR) and proof of Reform’s penchant for ‘outlandish, unrealistic solutions for solving problems.’
After a glorious summer of cricket, this week has highlighted two very different styles of batting. Yesterday it was Nigel Farage as Ben Stokes, hitting balls for six. Today it was Nick Thomas-Symonds as Geoffrey Boycott, blocking all that came at him. In the test match series of this parliament, we await to see which one will prove more effective.
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