MAIL ON SUNDAY COMMENT: The Prime Minister really has no right to try to reset Brexit
Inch by inch or, as the EU would prefer, centimetre by centimetre, this country is being drawn back into the dreary orbit of Brussels.
There was never really very much doubt that the Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer regretted our departure.
Earlier in his career he was open about this. But after the decisive referendum nine years ago, things have become harder and harder for those who believe the country is better off when controlled by foreign courts and foreign officials.
They know that any direct attempt to overturn that vote will meet with fierce resistance and many of them made fools of themselves by demanding such a re-run and calling it a 'People's Vote', as if those who had taken part in the original referendum had not been the people.
Sir Keir himself unsuccessfully campaigned for a second EU referendum as Labour's shadow Brexit secretary under Jeremy Corbyn. This approach has now quite plainly flopped.
Instead the EU itself – and its supporters here – have adopted what are known as salami tactics to get their way.
This phrase, invented by the grisly Hungarian despot Matyas Rakosi, involves getting what you want through a hundred thin slices, rather than by grabbing the whole sausage in one go.
Each slice is so thin and light that many will barely notice, and few will protest at its loss, but over time you get everything. The EU's extraordinary manoeuvres over Northern Ireland are a good example of this.
Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer at a 'People's Vote: Trust The People' march in Brighton in 2019
Sir Keir (pictured) unsuccessfully campaigned for a second EU referendum as Labour's shadow Brexit secretary under Jeremy Corbyn - and that approach has clearly flopped
Instead the EU itself – and its supporters here – have adopted what are known as salami tactics to get their way. This phrase, invented by the grisly Hungarian despot Matyas Rakosi (pictured) involves getting what you want through a hundred thin slices, rather than by grabbing the whole sausage in one go
But now comes Sir Keir's summit with EU leaders in London tomorrow, at which the process will go further still.
The Prime Minister is preparing to sign a Brexit 'reset'. This is expected to include a youth mobility scheme, which many view as the return of free cross-border movement dressed up as a concession to the young.
Reform UK's Nigel Farage has said that the plan would 'effectively be a back door to free movement of people', while Tory leader Kemi Badenoch has said it could amount to an 'uncapped migration scheme'.
Experience shows that such warnings cannot be lightly ignored.
We are also under pressure to grant long-term access for EU trawlers in newly-regained British fishing grounds.
All this comes with increased trade and security links. And these are attached to thick wads of Brussels regulations and the return to our territory of the Luxembourg-based European Court of Justice, a body which has little time for UK national sovereignty.
Alarmingly, Downing Street is briefing that the Premier now believes the British people are 'done' with Brexit. He and his aides may be in for a surprise when – as is inevitable – this policy is tested at the ballot box, especially in Labour's working class heartlands.
Even more worrying is a defence and security pact that would allow British companies to win contracts from a €150billion EU weapons fund.
But as The Mail on Sunday reports today, France is said to be leading demands within the EU for us to be made to pay an astounding price for this – perhaps billions.
The hard core of the EU, it seems, does not just want us back within its power. It also wants to make it clear that we have paid a heavy price for our attempt to escape.
Sir Keir should face the toughest possible scrutiny when he presents this dubious deal to the British people.
If it is the surrender it increasingly appears to be, he has no real right to accept it. If he tries to do so, it may fatally undermine his already badly damaged government.
