‘Brexit tackle’ speech from Labour – what to make of it?

His address was perhaps surprisingly robust. Then again, it did come as arch-Brexiter and Reform UK leader Nigel Farage was continuing to bang the anti-European drum noisily.

Labour has seemed a bit too shy when it has come to making a noise about its efforts for a closer relationship with the EU, seemingly for fear of upsetting Brexit voters who swept Boris Johnson to victory in the December 2019 election.

However, you could surely make an argument that Labour would be wise to highlight its different view on Europe to that of Reform UK and the Tory arch-Brexiters. After all, its seeming timidity to talk too much about Europe and Brexit does not seem to have done it any favours in the opinion polls so far, and in terms of appealing to the Leavers there is no way it is going to outdo the rhetoric of Farage and co.

There were quite a few other highlights in Mr Thomas-Symonds’s speech.

Reflecting on the run-up to the Brexit deal with the EU agreed by the Johnson administration, Mr Thomas-Symonds declared: “Some leaders never grasped the consequences of the route they took…

“The result was the first free trade agreement in history that made it harder to trade.”

It should be noted that it made it much, much harder to trade.

If anyone was in any doubt about the scale of the benefits of frictionless trade with the EU that the UK enjoyed when it was part of the bloc, the colossal damage that has come with the loss of this should leave no one in any doubt.

Returning to Mr Thomas-Symonds’s speech, he flagged efforts on various fronts to work more closely with the EU, and declared: “Some will say we’re surrendering sovereignty, or freedoms.

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“But that is absolute nonsense. What are those things in a modern context? Is it businesses drowning under mountains of paperwork…or free trade, a country now free to strike deals across the world and boost economic growth?”

The last part of this, about being “free to strike deals across the world” is dispiritingly Johnson-esque, and the free trade agreements signed by the Tories and Labour offer very small benefits indeed relative to what has been lost with Brexit.

So it is important to recognise that, while the speech appeared to show a bit more boldness on Europe, we should not get carried away given the limited extent of this improvement.

What is more, somewhat dishearteningly, Mr Thomas-Symonds, while talking about “the kind of strategic partnership we need” in the context of pursuing closer relations with the EU, declared: “This is making a Brexit that works for Britain”.

The words “Brexit” and “works” in the same sentence would be comical, if the damage being done to the economy from the UK’s departure from the EU were not so great.

Having said that, we should not overlook the positives in Mr Thomas-Symonds’s speech.

He explained well, in the context of agri-food, the importance of “shared rules” and flagged the agreement between the UK and EU unveiled in May to progress a sanitary and phytosanitary (SPS) agreement.

Mr Thomas-Symonds said: “We will enter into a food and drink deal as outlined in the Common Understanding signed in May.

“It means aligning standards on food and agriculture when, and where, it’s in the interests of British businesses. And it means shared rules. But all international agreements involve shared rules. That’s their very nature.”

He observed that “free traders and conservatives have always wrestled with this.”

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However, Mr Thomas-Symonds added: “The boldest have always been pragmatists too. Back in the 80s, when President Reagan was negotiating a free trade agreement, the arguments came down to how to settle disputes and the roles of courts. Sound familiar?

“Canadian Prime Minister Mulroney challenged him – ‘Now Ron, how is it that the United States can agree to a nuclear reduction deal with their worst enemy, the Soviet Union, but not do a deal with Canada to make trade easier?’. Reagan did the deal.”

Mr Thomas-Symonds declared that “most British exporters already align de facto with EU standards to keep selling their goods”.

He added: “The question is not whether alignment is inherently wrong. It’s whether, as a sovereign country, we decide where it works for us.

“This Government thinks that in some cases, like SPS, it is in our national interest to align with the EU. We have made that choice because it is pragmatic, and we own it.”

He flagged a tumble in UK exports to the EU since Brexit.

In 2024, UK goods exports to the EU were down nearly one-fifth on their 2019 level in real terms.

Mr Thomas-Symonds said: “Since 2021, over 16,000 businesses have stopped exporting to the EU entirely.”

He added: “Behind every number and statistic is a British business, a British entrepreneur, a British start-up. Paying the price. I’ve spoken to them – hauliers stuck in queues, farmers facing endless forms, manufacturers paying more just to stand still.

“Let’s say you’re in the agri-food business selling your goods to Europe. So, you need an export health certificate to transport food across the border – £200 – that’s not a one-off fee, that’s per consignment. If you’re exporting salmon or beef, queuing times for SPS checks, £149 for each shipment. If you’re selected for sampling, up to £1,400 a shipment, on fees, waiting times and cost of the product sampled.”

He declared that “companies big and small are crying out for change, for practical help to bring down bills so they make goods cheaper for the public”.

Mr Thomas-Symonds flagged a crucial observation from Alex Freudmann, managing director of M&S Food.

Mr Freudmann said: “Brexit bureaucracy continues to add complexity and cost for retailers, and limits choice and value for customers.”

That does not sound good for anyone.

Mr Thomas-Symonds said a Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs (DEFRA) report published on Wednesday showed “there’s been a disproportionate impact on smaller businesses”.

It remains lamentable that Labour is only tinkering around the edges when it comes to the huge cost of Brexit for the UK economy. It is sticking with its red lines of not rejoining the EU or the single market and thus continuing to lose out on the massive benefits of entirely frictionless trade and of free movement of people between the UK and European Economic Area.

Having said that, it is heartening to hear some home truths on Brexit from Labour. And, in terms of its efforts to rebuild relations with the EU, it is probably worth bearing in mind that, while these are demoralisingly unambitious, something is better than nothing.