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A senior minister is set to accuse Nigel Farage of “wanting Britain to fail” as Labour opens a new Brexit front in trying to take on Reform UK’s surge in the polls.
European affairs minister Nick Thomas-Symonds is to give a major speech in London warning that the impact of a Reform UK government would hit UK trade by £9bn.
It comes as Labour continues to lag by around 8 points in the polls behind Reform and 24 hours after Mr Farage attempted to seize the political initiative by outlining plans for mass deportations of illegal migrants.
The deportation plans have already drawn a warning from ex-Tory attorney general Dominic Grieve that they would mean the end of the post-Brexit deal with the EU bringing an end to free trade, data sharing and security arrangements.
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Cabinet Office minister Nick Thomas-Symonds (Lucy North/PA) (PA Wire)
But in his speech Mr Thomas Symonds, who negotiated the recent Brexit reset, will argue that Farage’s policies will inevitably lead to more red tape for business.
It comes as the Labour government said it wants to get a permanent deal with the EU on food and drink agreed in the next 18 months, as it sets out its stall ahead of talks later this year.
The current temporary agreement, which was put in place in June, stopped checks on some fruit and vegetables imported from the EU which meant no border checks or fees would be paid. It will expire in January 2027.
Mr Thomas-Symonds will accuse Mr Farage of “siding with the promise of more red tape, mountains of paperwork, and a bureaucratic burden”.
He will address an event hosted by the Spectator in central London on the Government’s priorities for the UK-EU relationship, and progress that has been made in recent talks with the EU.
It came after Mr Farage criticised the SPS (sanitary and phytosanitary) provisions agreed in May, writing in the Telegraph that it would push the UK “back into the orbit of Brussels, giving away vast amounts of our sovereignty for very little in return”.
He also wrote in the Telegraph: “A Reform government would undo all of this with legislation.”
The agreement in May covered multiple areas, including fishing, defence, a youth experience scheme, and passport e-gates.
The government said it would halt border checks on “medium-risk” fruit and vegetables, including tomatoes, grapes and peppers while a permanent SPS deal was negotiated.
The checks were due to be brought into force this summer.
This was followed in August by ministers cancelling border checks on live animal imports from the EU, and on animal and plant goods from Ireland.
The government said an agreement was “forthcoming”.
Labour has launched frequent broadsides towards Mr Farage’s party as it leads numerous opinion polls.
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Farage’s British nationalism could be a danger to business (AP)
In May Sir Keir Starmer said Reform would “crash the economy” as he compared its leader to former prime minister Liz Truss.
Mr Thomas-Symonds will say: “Nigel Farage’s manifesto at the next election will say in writing he wants to take Britain backwards, cutting at least £9 billion from the economy, bringing with it a risk to jobs and a risk of food prices going up.
“(Mr) Farage wants Britain to fail. His model of politics feeds on it, offering the easy answers, dividing communities and stoking anger.”
Labour says the current deal, which it is hoping to improve and secure a long-term confirmation of, lowers costs for supermarkets and shoppers.
They said that if Mr Farage was to reverse the deal, it would make exporting more difficult for farming and the fishing industry.
Mr Thomas-Symonds will pledge that the Labour Government will take “decisions rooted in the national interest, not party interest. Putting in the hard yards, not resting on empty slogans”.
He will say that aligning standards with the EU will boost growth, and lower food prices.
He will say it is “sovereignty, exercised in the national interest”.
A Reform UK spokesperson said: “No-one has done more damage to British businesses than this Labour government. With 157,000 fewer people on payroll since Labour took office, their jobs tax is stifling success and hitting small and medium sized businesses across the country.
“Cosying up to the EU and leaving us entangled in reams of retained EU law which Kemi Badenoch failed to scrap will not resuscitate Britain’s struggling economy.”