{"id":739121,"date":"2026-02-03T08:23:12","date_gmt":"2026-02-03T08:23:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/739121\/"},"modified":"2026-02-03T08:23:12","modified_gmt":"2026-02-03T08:23:12","slug":"keir-starmer-signs-up-to-fortnightly-brexit-reset-talks-with-eu-as-door-opened-to-130billion-pact","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/739121\/","title":{"rendered":"Keir Starmer signs up to fortnightly Brexit reset talks with EU as door opened to \u00a3130billion pact"},"content":{"rendered":"

Sir Keir Starmer has signed up to fortnightly Brexit reset talks with the European Union, with officials in Brussels “open-minded” to closer ties with Britain.<\/p>\n

Valdis Dombrovskis, the European Commissioner for Finance, said member states were “ready to engage” with officials in London should the Prime Minister wish to explore the move.<\/p>\n

A proposed customs union would stop tariffs or taxes on some or all goods between the UK and mainland Europe.<\/p>\n

When asked whether the EU would welcome talks on the UK returning to the trade bloc, Valdis Dombrovskis told the BBC: “I cannot jump to conclusions, but I can say that we are ready to engage with an open mind and seek those areas of cooperation.”<\/p>\n

However, Mr Dombrovskis said it was unlikely Britain would return to the single market, stressing access would require the UK accepting Freedom of Movement.<\/p>\n

After a high-level meeting on Monday with Chancellor Rachel Reeves, Mr Dombrovskis said the UK and EU could remove “most” food checks.<\/p>\n

He was also open to the possibility of the UK joining the EU’s \u00a3130billion defence loans scheme. Talks on an agreement broke down last year after the EU demanded the UK pay a multi-billion euro entry fee.<\/p>\n

Ms Reeves had previously spoken at an event in which Mr Dombrovskis was present, saying stronger ties between the UK and EU were increasingly important.<\/p>\n

“We are sliding towards a world where the rules are less clear,” Ms Reeves said.<\/p>\n

Labour’s election manifesto ruled out signing up to the existing EU customs union.<\/p>\n

FOLLOW BELOW FOR LIVE UPDATES THROUGHOUT THE DAY\u2026<\/strong><\/p>\n

Nigel Farage unveils plan to slash pint prices in bid to save Britain’s pubs<\/p>\n

\"\"\/<\/p>\n

Nigel Farage is to unveil a \u00a33billion tax relief package designed to rescue Britain’s struggling pub industry.<\/p>\n

The Reform UK leader’s five-point plan, set to be announced on Tuesday, proposes slashing beer duty by ten per cent from its current rate of 49p.<\/p>\n

Should publicans pass these savings on to their customers, patrons could see around 5p knocked off the cost of their pint.<\/p>\n

The ambitious rescue scheme would begin at \u00a32.29billion in its inaugural year, before rising to \u00a32.9billion by year four.<\/p>\n

READ THE FULL STORY HERE.<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n

On the agenda today<\/p>\n

Good morning, and welcome to the GB News live politics blog for today, Tuesday, February 3. Here’s a quick run-down of what we can expect to be seeing during the day.<\/p>\n

9.30am<\/strong> – Keir Starmer assembles his cabinet, and will be undoubtedly looking to focus on the cost-of-living crisis, as has been the focus of cabinet meetings so far this year.<\/p>\n

2.00pm<\/strong> – Nigel Farage expected to hold a press conference for Reform. Mr Farage will be joined by Lee Anderson, and they are expected to unveil a five-point plan to “save Britain\u2019s pubs,” including a flurry of tax cuts. <\/p>\n

2.30pm<\/strong> – In the House of Lords, introductions from Lib Dem peer Sarah Teather and non-affiliated peer Russell Hobby will be followed by questions on the the two-child benefit cap and the decision not to allow Shamima Begum to return to the UK.<\/p>\n

Expect a lot of focus on Lord Mandelson, after Sir Keir set out his stall on the scandal yesterday. Opposition parties could push for quicker action to get him out of the House of Lords<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Sir Keir Starmer has signed up to fortnightly Brexit reset talks with the European Union, with officials in…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":739122,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5226],"tags":[802,748,2000,299,5187,1699,4884,16,15],"class_list":{"0":"post-739121","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-brexit","8":"tag-brexit","9":"tag-britain","10":"tag-eu","11":"tag-europe","12":"tag-european","13":"tag-european-union","14":"tag-great-britain","15":"tag-uk","16":"tag-united-kingdom"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/116005739206114973","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/739121","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=739121"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/739121\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/739122"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=739121"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=739121"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=739121"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}