The Reform and Conservative parties are against any form of relationship with European Union countries. But with Labour, Britain is back on the world stage, writes Nick Thomas-Symonds.
Labour makes new borders deal with EU (Image: Getty)
Last week the Labour Government signed a new deal with the EU to make borders work for your holidays, and protect our borders at home. For too long, we’ve had a gap in our relationship on tackling cross-border crime, while border barriers have sent Brits to our wits end. Let’s take the latter first.
You know the story. Off the plane, the dream of a cold pool as you hold on for dear life in the bus on the tarmac. And then airport purgatory. Trying to work out where to queue. Spotting the Union Jack on the sign. The line below snaking for an eternity. White marbled floor and empty space on the other side. Knowing your fate.
The new deal will make jet setting easier for Brits (Image: Getty)
Bright lighting, baking heat, a measly fan whirling in vain. The steady drumbeat of a stamp hitting paper, to the soundtrack of slow shuffling and kids screaming in the background.
A symptom of a border relationship that just didn’t work. That’s why as part of the new deal between the UK and the EU, Labour is fixing it. Have you ever had that feeling of pure relief, landing at an airport that already lets Brits use the e-gates? It just shouldn’t be a pot-luck approach.
So last week, the Labour government agreed with the EU that there now won’t be any legal barriers to Brits using more ePassport gates in EU countries. It makes perfect sense. Why shouldn’t we spend less time queuing, and more time enjoying our hard-earned holidays?
I’m working with European Union states to open the gates as soon as possible. I’ve started contacting countries to make sure they crack on with it sharpish. And with the roll out of new border technology across Europe, by summer 2026, there’ll be fewer queues still.
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The new agreement gets rid of border misery. (Image: Getty)
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So it is bad news if you love passport stamps. But it is just one example of how our new agreement gets rid of border misery. And the deal doesn’t just make future summer holidays smoother, it strengthens our borders here at home too.
We signed new agreements to tackle irregular migration. We’re getting access to facial image data, to catch vile people smugglers and dangerous criminals who work internationally. Working together to help police track down rapists, murderers, and drug lords across borders.
As the Tories themselves have admitted, when we left the EU in 2020, they had no plan for these things. It was a deal half done, and we’re plugging the gaps. The sensible thing to do. It seems impossible to understand why the Tory government didn’t try to fix this. Until you understand they didn’t want to.
Like Reform, they are against any form of relationship with European Union countries. Happy to watch food rot in queues at ports. Happy to watch people’s brains rot in queues in airports. Driven by obsession, not the interests of British people. But with Labour, Britain is back on the world stage.
At the UK-EU Summit last week in London, we made that clear. Three trade deals in three weeks. We’re finally making our international relationships work in the interests of all British people.
