The United Kingdom’s new Labour government is steering the country towards a closer relationship with the European Union, igniting a fierce political debate over the legacy of Brexit. Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s administration has announced plans to negotiate a new agricultural deal with the EU within the next 18 months, a move aimed at lowering soaring food prices for British consumers. However, opponents have decried the plan as a betrayal of the 2016 referendum, setting the stage for a fresh battle over Britain’s place in Europe.
The government argues that the move is an economic necessity. Post-Brexit trade barriers have imposed significant costs on the UK’s food and agriculture sector, with export-related expenses reaching up to £65 million last year. British companies currently face fees of up to £200 for each of the more than 300,000 export licenses required in 2024. A new veterinary agreement, as proposed by Labour, would eliminate most of these non-tariff barriers, streamline checks on meat, fish, and produce imported from the EU, and ultimately reduce grocery bills for households across the country.
This pragmatic approach has been met with a furious backlash from staunch Brexit supporters. Kemi Badenoch of the Conservative Party warned that the deal is a slippery slope dragging the UK back into the EU’s orbit. The criticism was sharpest from Nigel Farage, leader of the increasingly popular Reform UK party, who labeled the initiative a “betrayal of Brexit.” The controversy highlights that years after its official departure, the UK remains a nation deeply divided on its relationship with the continent, with polls showing a growing number of Britons now believe leaving the EU was a mistake.
Adding fuel to the fire is the potent issue of immigration, a central promise of the Brexit campaign that has spectacularly backfired. Proponents had argued leaving the EU would allow the UK to “take back control” of its borders. In reality, the country is facing an unprecedented surge in illegal migration, with nearly 20,000 people arriving by small boats across the English Channel this year alone—a 75% increase from 2023. Lacking an EU-wide returns agreement, London is largely unable to deport the arrivals, rendering Starmer’s recent one-for-one migrant swap deal with France insufficient to tackle the scale of the problem.
This crisis has become the primary weapon for Reform UK. Tapping into public frustration, Nigel Farage has promised to implement “Trump-style” mass deportations if he comes to power, a radical proposal that has resonated with a significant portion of the electorate. Farage now boasts the highest approval rating of any British politician at 31%, and his party leads in popularity polls with 34% support. This populist surge presents a direct threat to Labour, which has struggled to offer a compelling counter-narrative to Farage’s hardline rhetoric.
With the next general election not scheduled until 2029, Keir Starmer’s government finds itself in a precarious position. Its strategy of careful, time-consuming negotiations with the EU to fix economic problems stands in stark contrast to the simple, decisive—if controversial—solutions offered by Reform UK. Starmer has already spent political capital on concessions, such as extending EU fishing access to UK waters, to get to the negotiating table, but the tangible benefits for Britons have yet to materialize. While Labour currently polls ahead of the fractured Conservatives, the party is now fighting a new war on a different front, where the unresolved ghost of Brexit and the tangible crisis of immigration are shaping a new, volatile political battleground.