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<\/p>\n\u00a0Experts at Northeastern University in London look at why the deal was signed and why Brexit debates so often circle back to fishing.<\/p>\n
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British Prime Minister Keir Starmer and the European Commission\u2019s Ursula von der Leyen have announced a deal that will remove Brexit barriers on trade and travel (Press Association via AP Images)<\/p>\n
LONDON \u2014 A new post-Brexit deal signed by the United Kingdom and the European Union promises to make it easier to trade, go on holiday and for young people to live abroad.<\/p>\n
So why was it greeted as an \u201cappalling sell-out\u201d by Boris Johnson, the former British prime minister who delivered Brexit?<\/p>\n
Arguments over Brexit tend to elicit such emotions, says Josephine Harmon<\/a>, assistant professor in political science at Northeastern University, because the 2016 referendum result, which saw the U.K. vote 52% to 48% to leave the EU, created a \u201cparticular culture of British patriotism in which Euroscepticism was a core part of this view of the British nation.\u201d<\/p>\n The London-based academic argues that the referendum helped establish a view among some politicians and voters that Britain could not be truly politically free without being outside the rules set by Brussels.<\/p>\n \u201cThere is this idea that the referendum created a mandate for Britain\u2019s sovereignty as being outside Europe,\u201d says Harmon, \u201cand there is an opposition to any cooperation that is seen as reducing British sovereignty.\u201d<\/p>\n Johnson\u2019s gripe was along the lines that Harmon describes, with the former leader of the Conservative Party taking to X<\/a> (formerly Twitter) to bemoan that Britain, under the new terms agreed by London and Brussels, will see the U.K. have to \u201caccept EU law on a host of measures\u201d without having any say due to no longer being a member of the bloc.<\/p>\n The deal<\/a> announced by British Prime Minister Keir Starmer and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen will bring the two sides closer on multiple fronts<\/a> \u2014 economically, socially, politically and in terms of security.<\/p>\n The accord removes barriers to transporting food and drink between the U.K. and the EU. Brexit rules introduced in 2021 led to British-made sausages and burgers being banned from being sold in the EU, something the new pact reverses.\u00a0<\/p>\n A defense and security partnership was agreed to as part of the negotiations, while EU tariffs on British steel have been scrapped, and there is the potential of holding further talks about relaxing work and study restrictions for those ages 18 to 30.<\/p>\n When it comes to travel, British passport holders will once again be able to use eGates in Europe to avoid long border lines \u2014 a Brexit effect that U.K. travelers commonly voiced complaints about on social media \u2014 and the accord will make it simpler for tourists to take their pets with them when they head to the continent.<\/p>\n Harmon says the deal worked for both sides due to a need to boost economies and the changing geopolitical landscape.\u00a0<\/p>\n Starmer\u2019s Labour government pledged to boost Britain\u2019s stuttering economy when it took power in July<\/a> and smoothing trade friction with the country\u2019s largest trading partner is seen as the surest way of delivering on that. Ministers say the accord, which has largely been welcomed<\/a> by British businesses, could bring down the price of food.<\/p>\n For Brussels, Harmon says the acrimonious Brexit divorce is being left in the past due to Britain emerging as a key partner in handling the war in Ukraine and also acting as an access route to the Trump White House thanks to the U.K.\u2019s \u201cspecial relationship\u201d with the U.S. appearing to have remained intact<\/a>.<\/p>\n But yet, despite a wide-ranging agreement, the debate still manages to come down to arguments about fishing rights. To secure the changes on food trade and travel rules, the U.K. has agreed to allow EU-registered fishing boats access by quota to British waters for another 12 years.\u00a0<\/p>\n In what was reportedly an 11th-hour concession, the move has seriously angered Brexiteers. Nigel Farage<\/a>, leader of the Eurosceptic Reform UK political party, said<\/a> it threatened to be the \u201cend of the fishing industry\u201d in Britain. So why does the fishing industry, which contributed around 0.03%<\/a> of the total U.K. economic output in 2021, rile anti-EU campaigners so much?<\/p>\n