Former UKIP leader Neil Hamilton has launched a scathing attack on Sir Keir Starmer, accusing the Prime Minister of attempting to drag Britain back into the European Union “by stealth”.
Speaking to GB News, Hamilton claimed Starmer had never truly accepted the Brexit referendum result.
He said: “Keir Starmer never accepted the referendum result. He wanted to have a second referendum until that became politically embarrassing.
“Now what they’re trying to do is, by stealth, to lock us back into the EU, but in a worse position than we would have been if we’d stayed in, because at least in those days, we were part of the decision making process in the Council of Ministers.
Hamilton slammed Stamer as “politically embarrassing”
GB News
“We had MEPs for all the years, we were able to participate in the debates on the laws by which we were governed outside the EU formally, but subject to the regulations that they made.
“We’ve been in a worse situation before, but Labour are quite happy with that, of course, because they prefer to be governed by Brussels.
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“They’re so useless at doing it from Westminster, in some ways we might be better off. They couldn’t do a worse job than Starmer and Reeves are doing now.”
The comments come as Starmer looks set to accept an invitation to attend an EU defence summit, marking the first time a British Prime Minister will join such a leaders’ meeting since the UK’s departure from the Brussels bloc.
The invitation will be formally extended by European Council President Antonio Costa during their meeting in Downing Street.
The Prime Minister is expected to attend a dinner during an “informal retreat” in Belgium on February 3.
Keir Starmer is set to accept an invitation to attend an EU defence summit
PA
The meeting will also come just days after Chancellor Rachel Reeves joined European finance ministers in Brussels, while Foreign Secretary David Lammy recently met with EU counterparts.
The talks between Starmer and Costa are expected to cover the post-Brexit relationship and wider global issues, including the situation in Syria.
A new poll suggests a significant shift in Brexit voters’ attitudes towards EU relations, with 54 percent now willing to accept free movement in exchange for single market access.
The research, conducted by the European Council on Foreign Relations think tank, surveyed 2,125 Britons.
Keir Starmer and European Council president Antonio Costa meeting in Downing Street
PA
Among all UK voters polled, 68 percent supported the free movement trade-off, with only 18 percent against.
The study found particularly strong support among “red wall voters,” with 59 percent backing the idea.
Researchers suggested this change in attitude could be linked to the UK’s continued high immigration levels post-Brexit.
The poll also indicated that Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and Donald Trump’s potential return to the White House have “fundamentally changed the context” of UK-EU relations.
