Labour's EU food sellout: Deal cuts red tape on exports like sausages... BUT it'll cost UK millions and force us to follow Brussels rules

Published: 20:12 EDT, 3 November 2026 | Updated: 21:02 EDT, 3 November 2026 Britain will have to follow EU rules and pay Brussels millions of pounds a year in return for a new deal to cut post-Brexit red tape on food exports.A draft agreement on Labour's Brexit reset was struck yesterday ahead of a summit on November 20.The deal will slash red tape on food exports to the EU including lifting an effective ban on the sale of British sausages, burgers and shellfish.Andy Burnham last night claimed the deal could eventually add 0.4 per cent of the UK's GDP – equal to £12billion.The PM said he now wanted to lead a conversation about getting 'properly close to Europe again'.And last night, Mr Burnham told reporters in the Caribbean, where he was attending a meeting of Commonwealth leaders, that the British public would expect him to take up a new EU deal 'with both hands' to secure extra economic growth.Downing Street declined to comment on the concessions the PM has made. But diplomatic sources said it would involve the UK accepting 'dynamic alignment' with EU rules on food and farming. In practice, this means signing up to accept new EU regulations in which the UK will have little or no say.Ministers are also ready to sign off annual payments running into the millions to help fund infrastructure projects in poorer EU states. Brussels is also pushing for the UK to slash university tuition fees for EU students studying in the UK, potentially costing the taxpayer £450million. Andy Burnham last night claimed the deal could eventually add 0.4 per cent of the UK's GDP – equal to £12billion (file image)Mr Burnham said the potential economic benefits of the deal were too big to ignore. He told the Economist magazine new Treasury analysis suggested, 'at the high end', that easing food and farming exports to the EU 'could add up to 0.4 per cent of GDP'.He added: 'Now, that is a number that you cannot ignore... if something can be done to add 0.4 per cent to British GDP, that should be pursued very vigorously, and that's what I'm doing.'But former Tory business secretary Sir Jacob Rees-Mogg warned that the PM's Brexit reset would come at a 'very high cost' to the country. He said: 'Andy is leading us back into the EU with this reset – we will have to follow their rules and we will have to pay them money as we did before we left.'And he is doing it all without a referendum or even a vote in Parliament. This deal is being presented as cost-free, but the truth is it will be very high cost.'The bulk of the food and farming deal was negotiated by Sir Keir Starmer last year. But the two sides have spent months finalising exactly how it should be implemented. The deal is expected to end the so-called 'sausage war' that has effectively ended the export of processed meat products to the EU since Brexit.The EU is expected to ditch bureaucratic rules that require food exports to undergo exhaustive inspections. Business leaders gave the proposals a cautious welcome. William Bain, of the British Chambers of Commerce, said that following EU rules was a 'price worth paying' for 'lower costs, reduced delays and increased market access'.Other elements of the proposed deal include a new 'youth experience scheme' which could allow up to 100,000 young adults from the EU to spend up to 12 months working in Britain. A similar arrangement would let British youngsters work in the EU.Mr Burnham also plans to use the summit to launch a 'conversation' on Britain's future with the EU, which could lead to the UK rejoining after the next election.Yesterday he said the public mood on Brexit had changed, with voters now open to a 'more pragmatic discussion'.READ MORE: Ketchup and mayonnaise sachets could be banned as Labour gets cosy with EU