Keir Starmer blasted over 'great Brexit betrayal' after move on EU rules

Labour was accused last night of a "great Brexit betrayal” that will put Britain back in the grip of Brussels.

A new law is being drawn up by ministers which could put UK manufacturers in lockstep with the EU on product safety rules.

Four former Cabinet big guns blasted Sir Keir Starmer for trying to "trade away" our freedoms in a bid to cosy up to Europe.

Angry Brexiteers warned that "slavishly" following EU laws will plunge Britain into a dangerous "horror show" that will wreck Brexit opportunities.

Businesses risk being tied up in red tape, wrecking future trade deals with the rest of the world, they say, which is the “opposite of what British people voted for” in the historic 2016 referendum.

One expert warned Britons could be left fewer shopping choices and could be stopped from buying more powerful vacuum cleaners and dishwashers.

Former International Trade Secretary Sir Liam Fox declared: “Labour has managed to diminish our energy security, promised to wreck our green belt and now has embarked on the great Brexit betrayal, bringing us back within the grasp of EU law over which we have no control.

“The people of Britain voted in the referendum for an independent sovereign nation. Now Labour has already begun to trade it away for benefits unknown.”

Labour sources insist the Bill will "in no way" force the UK to adopt EU rules and the "choice to align" will be Parliament's.

The new legislation will allow the UK to "mirror" updated EU rules governing product safety. Critics say this will make Britain once again a "rule-taker" instead of a "rule-maker".

Shadow Trade Secretary Kevin Hollinrake said: "A choice to ‘mirror’ EU rules would lock the UK into EU rules and red tape and lock us out of meaningful trade agreements with other countries. The Labour party don’t seem to have the confidence in this country to be a rule-maker and prefer to fall back to our pre-Brexit position as a rule-taker."

Brexiteers are adamant that Britain must not adopt new rules every time these are updated by the EU. They insist Parliament must scrutinise changes.

Former Tory leader Sir Iain Duncan Smith warned that new European regulations could “hit British firms hard and change our relationship with the EU”.

He said: "All this is wrong. Changes in regulations should be brought before the full House of Commons and subject to debate and scrutiny by MPs. That way we can avoid the pitfalls from the exercise of such untrammelled powers by ministers."

Ex-Brexit Secretary Sir David Davis said: "Mirroring EU regulations is clearly against the spirit of the referendum. If we are going to override the decision of the people we should only do so after a proper debate in Parliament and explicit vote on any regulation."

The Government says the Product Safety and Metrology Bill will "enable us to make the sovereign choice to mirror or diverge from updated EU rules, so that we can maintain high product safety while supporting businesses and economic growth".

But former Brexit minister David Jones said the legislation "makes clear that the Labour government intends to tie itself to EU legislation by dynamic alignment, which is precisely the opposite of what the British people voted for in 2016".

Predicting this will backfire on Labour, he said: "I suspect it will not be too long before people become thoroughly fed up with an arrogant government that pays such little regard to the democratic decision they made eight years ago."

Reform UK deputy leader Richard Tice said the proposals were a "horror show," adding: "Labour has slipped in a simple mechanism in the Product Bill to ensure regulatory alignment with anti-growth EU laws."

He described this as "very dangerous" and "likely to further diminish many opportunities of Brexit to diverge from absurd EU bureaucracy".

Matthew Lesh of the Institute of Economic Affairs also voiced concerns about the "surprise" Bill which he said "risks tying Britain to European Union regulations indefinitely without any further say from Parliament".

He said that “mirroring” EU product standards “may be entirely sensible in some cases” but warned that in others this “could see the UK become a rule-taker, following regulations we have no say about creating with limited to no public debate”.

Mr Lesh added: “It could mean, for example, not allowing people to have stronger vacuum cleaners and dishwashers.”

A Department for Business and Trade spokesman said: “This new Bill gives us the flexibility to shape our product safety rules around the needs of UK businesses and consumers both now and in the future. Protecting the public from unsafe products is crucial and these new rules will allow us to maintain high product safety whilst supporting businesses and economic growth.”

The Government intends to set out a process which will ensure scrutiny takes place when the new powers are exercised.

The controversy comes amid outcry that the EU will phase out the flavouring used in smoky bacon crisps over the next two years amid health concerns.

Former Brexit minister Mr Jones said this showed why Britain must not “surrender it to a bunch of interfering paper-pushers with nothing better to do than to invent silly rules that make people miserable”.

Labour’s manifesto rules out rejoining the EU single market or customs union but commits the Government to “tearing down unnecessary barriers to trade”.

Mark Francois, the Conservative chairman of the European Research Group, said: “Nothing in the recent Labour manifesto overrides our democratic decision in 2016 to Leave the EU – so to now start slavishly following EU regulation again would be not just wholly mistaken but completely against the spirit of the referendum itself.”

A Labour spokesman said: "The British people had enough of being the political plaything of the Conservative party, that is why they voted for change. This Labour government takes the grown up steps needed to keep people safe, including ensuring dodgy products don’t end up flooding the UK market, with potentially dangerous consequences.

"We are solely focussed on the best interests of the country, not the defunct ideology of the Conservative party.”