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Kemi Badenoch to tell Labour not to make UK a 'supplicant' to the European Union with fears Starmer will look to unpick the Brexit referendum
@Source: dailymail.co.uk
Kemi Badenoch will take aim at Labour's 'surrender' on Brexit with a hard-hitting speech in Brussels today.
A UK-EU summit in London on Monday will see leaders unveil a 'reset' of post-Brexit relations which will bring Britain into a closer alignment with the bloc.
It has been dubbed the 'surrender summit' by critics, with fears Sir Keir Starmer will look to unpick the referendum.
The Tory leader is in Belgium today to speak at the International Democracy Union and is expected to say: 'We can improve our relationship with European countries, but not by being a supplicant.
'Keir Starmer seems willing to give up our fish to the French and to pay to be allowed to be part of a defence pact.
'My worry is that when Labour negotiates, Britain loses. From paying to give away our territory in Chagos to the tiny tariff agreement with President Trump which the Prime Minister overhyped, he assumes a weaker position.
'We need to put our national interest first and move forwards – not reopen the battles of the past.'
As part of the summit, Sir Keir looks set to scrap plans for British farmers to grow new drought and disease-resistant crops.
Brussels negotiators have demanded that Britain shelves laws allowing gene-edited crops to be planted in exchange for closer trading ties, as Eurocrats are concerned that UK farmers could gain a competitive advantage over their European counterparts.
It means the UK would have to wait for the EU to authorise the technology first, which critics said would put Britain in the 'slow lane' of a multi-billion-pound industry.
Daniel Pearsall, of the Science for Sustainable Agriculture think-tank, said: 'One of the most important opportunities of leaving the EU was that it allowed the UK to look again at some of the restrictive EU rules around technological innovation areas such as GM [genetically modified] crops and precision breeding.
'Without an assurance that precision breeding will be exempted from the Government's EU reset, the risk is that we will be forced to accept more restrictive rules over which we have no control.'
In return for scrapping the plans, Britain will be given closer trading ties with border checks reduced on British food and agricultural produce sold in Europe.
A new defence and security pact is also expected to be announced at the summit, with declarations expected in other areas such as fishing rights, closer trading ties, a youth mobility scheme and energy market co-operation.
Additionally, union leaders told Sir Keir that he should be more ambitious about relaxing Britain's borders.
Paul Nowak, general secretary of the Trades Union Congress said on Tuesday it would be a 'mistake' for the PM to limit increased mobility for workers across borders.
He told the Politico website: 'I want to see increased opportunities for workers in the UK to work in the EU and vice versa.'
A Government spokesman said: 'No final agreement has been made. Our discussions with the EU are ongoing and cover a wide range of issues. We have been clear that we will always act in the national interest to secure the best outcomes for the UK.
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