Keir StarmerVerified account

Excuse the long thread, but I have looked carefully at the #BrexitDeal negotiated by Boris Johnson. Here is my analysis: 1/

Labour’s concerns with Theresa May’s deal were not principally about the backstop. They were about the Political Declaration and our future relationship with the EU after Brexit. 2/

Having reviewed what has been agreed, it is clear that the Johnson deal is a far worse deal than Theresa May’s deal. It paves the way for a decade of deregulation. It gives Johnson licence to slash workers’ rights, environmental standards and consumer protections. 3/

Rather than strengthening the Political Declaration (PD) along the lines Labour argued, the political direction of travel under Johnson is to a distant economic relationship with the EU. It rules out a new Customs Union and a close future relationship with the Single Market. 4/

This inevitably means there will be new trade barriers with the EU and additional checks at borders. The PD is explicit about this. And the Johnson deal makes it easier for a Tory Government to cut rights and standards. 5/

On services, the PD offers nothing beyond the weak provisions in the Theresa May deal. Nor has there been any progress on the question of agencies and our future security relationship. 6/

The level playing field commitments are significantly weaker: no longer building on the measures in the old Withdrawal Agreement, which provided for dynamic alignment in certain areas. 7/