Farage says UK’s Brexit deal with EU can be improved – but struggles to say how
Nigel Farage has said the UK could be “friendly” with the EU but did not outline what kind of ties with the bloc his party would support, PA Media reports. PA says:
The Reform UK leader said that “industrial collaboration” with the EU will give the UK “less flexibility” to make a deal with the US.
His comments came in an interview on the Today programme after his party edged ahead of Labour to top a voting poll from YouGov for the first time.
Farage was asked why he did not see it as a good move for Labour to seek closer trading ties with the EU after pledging to do so in its manifesto.
“You can have negotiations, you can be friendly, you can do all those things. But if we start to tie ourselves to industrial collaboration, as appears was agreed last night, then we find ourselves with less flexibility in doing deals with countries like America,” he said.
Asked about polls showing that many Britons want closer ties with the EU, Farage said: “We voted to leave. That was very, very clear. We can be friendly, we can be co-operative.”
He was pressed to explain what that means in practice.
“Well, I think the deal that was negotiated by the Johnson government wasn’t a very good one. We can improve on that.”
But Farage suggested that he would not back a new deal involving closer links, even if it ruled out more fishing access to EU boats.
“I do not see that any steps … back towards a failing European Union makes sense in a world that is changing very, very quickly,” he said.
“What does being friendly mean? We’re not mates in a pub. Can you commit to something?”@Emmabarnett presses Reform UK leader Nigel Farage on what he would like to see in a relationship between the EU and UK post-Brexit.#R4Today
— BBC Radio 4 Today (@BBCr4today) February 4, 2025
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“What does being friendly mean? We’re not mates in a pub. Can you commit to something?”@Emmabarnett presses Reform UK leader Nigel Farage on what he would like to see in a relationship between the EU and UK post-Brexit.#R4Today
— BBC Radio 4 Today (@BBCr4today) February 4, 2025
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The Reform UK leader said that “industrial collaboration” with the EU will give the UK “less flexibility” to make a deal with the US.
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His comments came in an interview on the Today programme after his party edged ahead of Labour to top a voting poll from YouGov for the first time.
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Farage was asked why he did not see it as a good move for Labour to seek closer trading ties with the EU after pledging to do so in its manifesto.
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“You can have negotiations, you can be friendly, you can do all those things. But if we start to tie ourselves to industrial collaboration, as appears was agreed last night, then we find ourselves with less flexibility in doing deals with countries like America,” he said.
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Asked about polls showing that many Britons want closer ties with the EU, Farage said: “We voted to leave. That was very, very clear. We can be friendly, we can be co-operative.”
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He was pressed to explain what that means in practice.
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“Well, I think the deal that was negotiated by the Johnson government wasn’t a very good one. We can improve on that.”
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But Farage suggested that he would not back a new deal involving closer links, even if it ruled out more fishing access to EU boats.
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“I do not see that any steps … back towards a failing European Union makes sense in a world that is changing very, very quickly,” he said.
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“What does being friendly mean? We’re not mates in a pub. Can you commit to something?”@Emmabarnett presses Reform UK leader Nigel Farage on what he would like to see in a relationship between the EU and UK post-Brexit.#R4Today
— BBC Radio 4 Today (@BBCr4today) February 4, 2025
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Jack Lopresti, a former Conservative MP ousted in the 2024 election has reportedly joined the International Legion in Ukraine in a non-combat role to help the fight against Russia. Jamie Grierson has the story.
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The YouGov poll showing Reform UK in first place for the first time (see 9.30am) highlights the “dire state” of the Conservative party, a Labour minister said.
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Asked about the poll in an interview with Times Radio, Karin Smyth, the care minister, said:
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We had a very big poll seven months ago [the election that Labour won].
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I’ve seen a lot of polls come and go. I think it particularly highlights the dire state of the Conservative party at the moment as well. It’s a volatile time in politics. We understand that.
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Smyth accepted that Labour did look at polls, but she said “we’re very much focused on what we’re trying to do at the moment”.
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Labour reportedly dropped a plan to ban foreign political donations after an intervention from Waheed Alli, the Labour peer who paid for Keir Starmer’s clothes and glasses. Jessica Elgot has the story.
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Thomas-Symonds says Keir Starmer showed his commitment to working with the EU on security during his visit to Brussels yesterday.
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On law enforcement, he says the UK wants more cooperation on tackling small boats and people smuggling.
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And, on trade, he confirms that the UK wants a new sanitary and phytosanitary agreement (covering food safety rules), progress on the mutual recognition of professional qualifications and more cooperation on energy and the green transition.
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And he says Keir Starmer plans to meet Ursula von der Leyen, the European Commission president, at a summit in May to resolve these issues.
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He ends by again proposing “ruthless pragmatism”.
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The time for ideologically driven division is over. The time for ruthless pragmatism is now. It is through a new partnership between the UK and the EU that we will deliver for the people of the United Kingdom and for people across the continent.
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As Politco reports, the UK-EU summit is expected to be held in Britain. Last night António Costa, president of the European Council, suggested it would by on 19 May.
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Thomas-Symonds speaking at the UK-EU Forum conference”,”caption”:”Nick Thomas-Symonds speaking at the UK-EU Forum conference”,”credit”:”Photograph: UK-EU Forum”}}],”attributes”:{“pinned”:false,”keyEvent”:true,”summary”:false},”blockCreatedOn”:1738662925000,”blockCreatedOnDisplay”:”04.55 EST”,”blockLastUpdated”:1738664453000,”blockLastUpdatedDisplay”:”05.20 EST”,”blockFirstPublished”:1738663695000,”blockFirstPublishedDisplay”:”05.08 EST”,”blockFirstPublishedDisplayNoTimezone”:”05.08″,”title”:”Thomas-Symonds says UK and EU to review Brexit deal in spirit of ‘ruthless pragmatism’ ahead of summit in May”,”contributors”:[],”primaryDateLine”:”Tue 4 Feb 2025 06.02 EST”,”secondaryDateLine”:”First published on Tue 4 Feb 2025 04.30 EST”},{“id”:”67a1e1f08f084a16022e27e7″,”elements”:[{“_type”:”model.dotcomrendering.pageElements.TextBlockElement”,”html”:”
Thomas-Symonds says the UK and the EU both know that “low growth is not the destiny of our economies”.
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They are both committed to “research and innovation, reducing red tape, a new skills agenda, boosting productivity [and] a more resilient economy”, he says.
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He goes on:
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In a more uncertain world, we are regularly reminded that allies are more secure together than they are apart.
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Good morning. A good rule of thumb in political reporting is that any news story about voter intention polling is wrong. That is because news stories, by definition, are about what new and what’s different, and polls that show anything unusual (or at least anything significantly unusual) are probably outliers. In polling, what matters is the trend (because polls are a reliable guide to voting trends) but not so much the actual numbers (where polling is much more hit and miss).
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So it it is with some reservation that we start with YouGov polling, for the Times and Sky News, showing Reform UK in first place, and ahead of Labour for the first time in a national opinion poll. It has Reform UK on 25%, Labour on 24% and the Conservatives on 21%.
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As Anthony Wells, head of European political and social research at YouGov, told the Times, the Reform UK lead is well within the margin of error, and it would be more realistic to see Nigel Farage’s party level pegging with Labour. Wells said:
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We’ve had Labour and Reform extremely close over all our polls so far this year and this survey shows a narrow Reform lead,” he said. “While it remains within the margins of error it reinforces the fact that Reform is roughly equal in support with Labour with Conservative slipping back again.
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So why cover it prominently? Because, while the figures may not matter much, the trend does, and this is confirmation that support for Reform UK has been growing significantly since the general election. Here is a poll tracker from Electoral Calculus.
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This does not mean Farage is in poll position to be the next PM. The next election is years away, Reform only has five MPs and its surge is miniscule compared to the SDP’s in the early 1980s. The SDP-Liberal Alliance hit 50% in the polls at one point, but it got crushed by first-past-the-post at the 1983 general election and ended up with just 23 MPs.
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But politics has changed a lot in the last 40 years, and even if Reform’s prospects of overtaking the two main UK parties still look slim, these figures will alarm MPs from both the Conservatives and Labour.
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Here is the agenda for the day.
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9.40am: Nick Thomas-Symonds, the Cabinet Office minister, gives a speech at the UK-EU forum’s annual conference.
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10am: The Today presenter Nick Robinson interviews Wes Streeting, the health secretary, for a world cancer day event.
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10am: Education experts, including the National Education Union, give evidence to the Commons education committee about the children’s wellbeing and schools bill.
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11am: Hilary Benn, the Northern Ireland secretary, gives a speech on how Stormont has been operating.
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11.30am: Downing Street holds a lobby briefing.
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11.30am: Ed Miliband, the energy secretary, takes questions in the Commons.
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2.30pm: Sir Matthew Rycroft, permanent secretary at the Home Office, gives evidence to the Commons home affairs committee.
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2.30pm: Gareth Davies, head of the National Audit Office, gives his annual speech to parliament.
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And in the evening Keir Starmer is having dinner in Downing Street with the Danish prime minister, Mette Fredriksen.
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If you want to contact me, please post a message below the line or message me on social media. I can’t read all the messages BTL, but if you put “Andrew” in a message aimed at me, I am more likely to see it because I search for posts containing that word.
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If you want to flag something up urgently, it is best to use social media. You can reach me on Bluesky at @andrewsparrowgdn. The Guardian has given up posting from its official accounts on X but individual Guardian journalists are there, I still have my account, and if you message me there at @AndrewSparrow, I will see it and respond if necessary.
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I find it very helpful when readers point out mistakes, even minor typos. No error is too small to correct. And I find your questions very interesting too. I can’t promise to reply to them all, but I will try to reply to as many as I can, either BTL or sometimes in the blog.
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Key events
Ex-Tory MP reportedly joins Ukraine foreign legion in non-combat role
Jack Lopresti, a former Conservative MP ousted in the 2024 election has reportedly joined the International Legion in Ukraine in a non-combat role to help the fight against Russia. Jamie Grierson has the story.
Richard Fuller, the shadow chief secretary, said the YouGov poll showing his party in third place behind Reform UK and Labour (see 9.30am) showed voters were “very frustrated”. He accepted his party had to restore trust.
Fuller told Sky News:
People are very frustrated. They were very frustrated with the Conservative party ahead of the election, that’s why the Conservative Party ended up with its worst result.
But the party was now under new leadership, he said.
Clearly, we’ve got to learn lessons. That’s what Kemi Badenoch has said and it takes time for us to restore trust with the British public.
But the public now has seen the new government. They’re very frustrated. They think that Rachel Reeves is out of her depth. They think that Keir Starmer is a bit all over the place.”
They’re very frustrated. They’re not yet ready to say ‘we can see the Conservatives under new leadership are setting a new direction’.
YouGov poll showing Reform UK ahead highlights ‘dire state’ of Tories, says Labour minister
The YouGov poll showing Reform UK in first place for the first time (see 9.30am) highlights the “dire state” of the Conservative party, a Labour minister said.
Asked about the poll in an interview with Times Radio, Karin Smyth, the care minister, said:
We had a very big poll seven months ago [the election that Labour won].
I’ve seen a lot of polls come and go. I think it particularly highlights the dire state of the Conservative party at the moment as well. It’s a volatile time in politics. We understand that.
Smyth accepted that Labour did look at polls, but she said “we’re very much focused on what we’re trying to do at the moment”.
Labour dropped plan to ban foreign donors after Waheed Alli intervened, book claims
Labour reportedly dropped a plan to ban foreign political donations after an intervention from Waheed Alli, the Labour peer who paid for Keir Starmer’s clothes and glasses. Jessica Elgot has the story.
Thomas-Symonds says UK and EU to review Brexit deal in spirit of ‘ruthless pragmatism’ ahead of summit in May
Thomas-Symonds says Keir Starmer showed his commitment to working with the EU on security during his visit to Brussels yesterday.
On law enforcement, he says the UK wants more cooperation on tackling small boats and people smuggling.
And, on trade, he confirms that the UK wants a new sanitary and phytosanitary agreement (covering food safety rules), progress on the mutual recognition of professional qualifications and more cooperation on energy and the green transition.
And he says Keir Starmer plans to meet Ursula von der Leyen, the European Commission president, at a summit in May to resolve these issues.
He ends by again proposing “ruthless pragmatism”.
The time for ideologically driven division is over. The time for ruthless pragmatism is now. It is through a new partnership between the UK and the EU that we will deliver for the people of the United Kingdom and for people across the continent.
As Politco reports, the UK-EU summit is expected to be held in Britain. Last night António Costa, president of the European Council, suggested it would by on 19 May.
Thomas-Symonds says the UK government sees “real opportunities to improve the status quo” in the reset happening this year as the UK and the EU revise how their post-Brexit trade deal is working.
He says he intends to be a “ruthlessly pragmatic negotiator”.
And he says there will be three pillars to the UK’s reset with the EU.
This British government was elected on a mandate to strengthen national security by reconnecting with our allies, to increase people’s safety through strong borders, and to increase prosperity through growth.
Our European friends are a part of every single one of those priorities, and I believe it’s these priorities that form the three pillars of a reset in our relationship.
Allies like EU and UK ‘more secure together than they are apart’, says Nick Thomas-Symonds
Thomas-Symonds says the UK and the EU both know that “low growth is not the destiny of our economies”.
They are both committed to “research and innovation, reducing red tape, a new skills agenda, boosting productivity [and] a more resilient economy”, he says.
He goes on:
In a more uncertain world, we are regularly reminded that allies are more secure together than they are apart.
Nick Thomas-Symonds, the Cabinet Office minister in charge of post-Brexit relations with the EU, is speaking now at the at the UK-EU forum’s annual conference. There is a live feed here.
Thomas-Symonds says the UK and the Eu share the same “mutal goal”, wanting a better relationship.
He says Rachel Reeves, the chancellor, recently gave a speech saying the government has set growth as its main priority. And he says on the very same day Ursula von der Leyen, the European Commission president, was setting out her competitiveness agenda.
Reform UK overtakes Labour for first time in national opinion poll
Good morning. A good rule of thumb in political reporting is that any news story about voter intention polling is wrong. That is because news stories, by definition, are about what new and what’s different, and polls that show anything unusual (or at least anything significantly unusual) are probably outliers. In polling, what matters is the trend (because polls are a reliable guide to voting trends) but not so much the actual numbers (where polling is much more hit and miss).
So it it is with some reservation that we start with YouGov polling, for the Times and Sky News, showing Reform UK in first place, and ahead of Labour for the first time in a national opinion poll. It has Reform UK on 25%, Labour on 24% and the Conservatives on 21%.
As Anthony Wells, head of European political and social research at YouGov, told the Times, the Reform UK lead is well within the margin of error, and it would be more realistic to see Nigel Farage’s party level pegging with Labour. Wells said:
We’ve had Labour and Reform extremely close over all our polls so far this year and this survey shows a narrow Reform lead,” he said. “While it remains within the margins of error it reinforces the fact that Reform is roughly equal in support with Labour with Conservative slipping back again.
So why cover it prominently? Because, while the figures may not matter much, the trend does, and this is confirmation that support for Reform UK has been growing significantly since the general election. Here is a poll tracker from Electoral Calculus.
This does not mean Farage is in poll position to be the next PM. The next election is years away, Reform only has five MPs and its surge is miniscule compared to the SDP’s in the early 1980s. The SDP-Liberal Alliance hit 50% in the polls at one point, but it got crushed by first-past-the-post at the 1983 general election and ended up with just 23 MPs.
But politics has changed a lot in the last 40 years, and even if Reform’s prospects of overtaking the two main UK parties still look slim, these figures will alarm MPs from both the Conservatives and Labour.
Here is the agenda for the day.
9.40am: Nick Thomas-Symonds, the Cabinet Office minister, gives a speech at the UK-EU forum’s annual conference.
10am: The Today presenter Nick Robinson interviews Wes Streeting, the health secretary, for a world cancer day event.
10am: Education experts, including the National Education Union, give evidence to the Commons education committee about the children’s wellbeing and schools bill.
11am: Hilary Benn, the Northern Ireland secretary, gives a speech on how Stormont has been operating.
11.30am: Downing Street holds a lobby briefing.
11.30am: Ed Miliband, the energy secretary, takes questions in the Commons.
2.30pm: Sir Matthew Rycroft, permanent secretary at the Home Office, gives evidence to the Commons home affairs committee.
2.30pm: Gareth Davies, head of the National Audit Office, gives his annual speech to parliament.
And in the evening Keir Starmer is having dinner in Downing Street with the Danish prime minister, Mette Fredriksen.
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