London, UK – British Prime Minister Kiel Starmer proudly described his new contract with the broad European Union as an agreement that “returns the nation to the world stage” and “favorable to both sides.”
But nine years after Britain voted slightly in favor of leaving the EU, the deal, announced on May 19, encourages some to sigh in bail, stabbing criticism from others, and highlights how divided Brexit’s legacy is within the country.
While many sections of British society welcome the agreement, anti-immigrant reform UK MP Richard Tice has responded to the deal of a single word post on social media, “betrayal.”
The deal offers concessions on European visas for British citizens, short queues at European airports, and perhaps cheaper food in the UK. But on the other hand, the UK has agreed to allow the European fleet of fishing vessels to access British waters for an extra 12 years.
“Best News of 9 Years”
Phil Rusted, who runs a company called Practical Plants in Suffolk, which imports plants from Europe, is one of the delights.
“My instinct is that it’s the best news we’ve got in nine years,” he said. “We’re back to where we were before Brexit, and it helps us take on more staff and develop our business. The last few years have been very unpredictable.
More broadly, the business sector is primarily responding to contracts positively.
“In a world where higher US tariffs threaten to cast globalization backwards, trade transactions are generally good news, even if they are relatively minor,” says Philip Shaw, chief economist at Investec Bank. “The obvious winner is the food sector and can benefit from check cuts at the EU border.
The SME Federation, a group representing UK small and medium-sized enterprises, describes EU transactions as “real progress” and believes that they “resolve rules for small-scale exporters of plant and animal products.”
“For too long, small businesses have been burdened with unpredictable customs regulations and deficits that sap confidence and ambition,” he said.
The general opinion in the UK appears to be behind the agreement. Polling by YouGov shows that 66% want to have a closer relationship with the EU.
Certainly, experts say the UK must compromise too. “Of course, the devil of a trade contract is always in detail,” said Paul Dales, chief economist in capital economics. In addition to accepting access to the EU to British waters, the UK agreed to pay an unspecified “appropriate contribution” to join the jurisdiction of the European Court of Justice, Dales noted.
“No value in return”
However, the deal also faces strong pushbacks.
The National Federation of Organising Fishermen said in a statement on May 19 that the agreement “waives the highest prospects that fisheries and coastal communities have had for growth over the next decade.”
Three days later, it issued a more biting statement, “I’ve come back to the past I thought I’d regained British fishing.”
Shaw admitted that if the food industry benefited from the trade, the fisheries sector stood “on the other side of scale.”
And it’s not just fishermen. The contract also revived a broader debate about whether the UK is trying to reorganize itself with elements of EU rules and regulations violates Brexit’s mission.
Former Prime Minister Boris Johnson, who officially withdraws from the EU in 2020, explained the deal was “a horrifying sold out” in an X post.
Tony Gabana, a London web developer who was too young to vote for 2016, holds that view.
“Whether it’s quite a bit or not, it seems like an attempt to reverse what a lot of people voted for,” Governa said. “It’s not sitting with me, and it feels like a step towards further concession.
“Are we democracies?”
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