Gabrielle Wilde
Guest Reporter
Mark François, chairman of the European Research Group of Tory MPs, has declared he "ardently believes" Sir Keir Starmer will attempt to take Britain back into the European Union if given the opportunity.
The former Shadow Defence Minister warned that Starmer "remains an ardent Remainer" who will never change his stance on Europe.
He told GB News: "I remember sitting in the House of Commons week after week, watching him calling for a second referendum because he couldn't abide the results of the first one.
"I believe that this talk of a reset is code. A reset means it's a euphemism for basically trying to take us back in via another name. For well over two years, we had Starmer in the Commons conspiring with people across all parties to try and keep us in the EU at almost any price.
"He remains a Remainer at heart. He'll always be an ardent Remainer and this talk of a reset, they're already talking about surrendering some of our fishing rights.
"They're talking about weakening on free movement. I believe they wouldn't dare try and do this all in one go. They'll play grandmother's footsteps and they'll try and take us back in.
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"They'll try and take us back in step by step. A bit like boiling a frog.
"I absolutely ardently believe Starmer will try and take us back into the EU if he thinks he can get away with it."
His comments come as Downing Street faces questions over the establishment of a new unit consisting of 100 civil servants dealing with EU-UK relations.
Boris Johnson has accused the Prime Minister of setting up a "Westminster surrender squad" to return powers to Brussels.
The European Commission has announced it is taking the UK to court over alleged violations of the post-Brexit deal regarding freedom of movement.
The legal action comes despite Starmer's efforts to reset relations with the EU during his first six months in office.
Downing Street has notably refused to rule out whether there would be any room for European Court of Justice jurisdiction in Britain as part of Starmer's Brexit "reset".
A No 10 spokesman said the UK would not be rejoining the customs union and single market, or signing up to free movement. However, when pressed on ECJ jurisdiction, the spokesman said: "We've set out the principles that we've left the EU and obviously not going back on that."
The Government acknowledged there is now a team dealing with EU-UK relations, with officials moved from the Foreign Office to the Cabinet Office "to secure the best possible deal for the UK".
Dame Priti Patel warned that Labour "will surrender our sovereignty" and urged the Government to strongly defend against the EU's legal action.
Former Brexit Opportunities Minister Sir Jacob Rees-Mogg told GB News that both Tory and Reform leaders should pledge to abandon any new Labour deal involving the European Court.
He warned such arrangements "could be devastating for fishermen and re-open the uncounted flood of people coming from the EU, making our migration problem worse."
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The former Shadow Defence Minister warned that Starmer "remains an ardent Remainer" who will never change his stance on Europe.
He told GB News: "I remember sitting in the House of Commons week after week, watching him calling for a second referendum because he couldn't abide the results of the first one.
"I believe that this talk of a reset is code. A reset means it's a euphemism for basically trying to take us back in via another name. For well over two years, we had Starmer in the Commons conspiring with people across all parties to try and keep us in the EU at almost any price.
"He remains a Remainer at heart. He'll always be an ardent Remainer and this talk of a reset, they're already talking about surrendering some of our fishing rights.
"They're talking about weakening on free movement. I believe they wouldn't dare try and do this all in one go. They'll play grandmother's footsteps and they'll try and take us back in.
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"They'll try and take us back in step by step. A bit like boiling a frog.
"I absolutely ardently believe Starmer will try and take us back into the EU if he thinks he can get away with it."
His comments come as Downing Street faces questions over the establishment of a new unit consisting of 100 civil servants dealing with EU-UK relations.
Boris Johnson has accused the Prime Minister of setting up a "Westminster surrender squad" to return powers to Brussels.
The European Commission has announced it is taking the UK to court over alleged violations of the post-Brexit deal regarding freedom of movement.
The legal action comes despite Starmer's efforts to reset relations with the EU during his first six months in office.
Downing Street has notably refused to rule out whether there would be any room for European Court of Justice jurisdiction in Britain as part of Starmer's Brexit "reset".
A No 10 spokesman said the UK would not be rejoining the customs union and single market, or signing up to free movement. However, when pressed on ECJ jurisdiction, the spokesman said: "We've set out the principles that we've left the EU and obviously not going back on that."
The Government acknowledged there is now a team dealing with EU-UK relations, with officials moved from the Foreign Office to the Cabinet Office "to secure the best possible deal for the UK".
Dame Priti Patel warned that Labour "will surrender our sovereignty" and urged the Government to strongly defend against the EU's legal action.
Former Brexit Opportunities Minister Sir Jacob Rees-Mogg told GB News that both Tory and Reform leaders should pledge to abandon any new Labour deal involving the European Court.
He warned such arrangements "could be devastating for fishermen and re-open the uncounted flood of people coming from the EU, making our migration problem worse."
Find Out More...