Brexiteers have set out how Leavers should hold Sir Keir Starmer’s feet to the fire after the Prime Minister appeared to open the door to returning the UK to the jurisdiction of the European Court of Justice.
After a leaked Brussels document revealed that EU negotiators will look to force Starmer to sign up to the ECJ, Brexit bigwigs urged Eurosceptics to launch a two-pronged campaign to prevent pooling sovereignty to the Luxembourg court
Ex-Brexit Opportunities Minister Sir Jacob Rees-Mogg claimed that Tory leader Kemi Badenoch and Reform UK leader Nigel Farage should both make a public commitment to tearing up any accord which relinquishes control over Britain’s legal system.
He told GB News: “Both the Tory and Reform leaders ought to promise if elected to leave any new Labour deal especially if it involves the European Court.
Sir Keir Starmer with Ursula von der Leyen
PA
“Any deal could be devastating for fishermen and re-open the uncounted flood of people coming from the EU, making our migration problem worse.”
Meanwhile, former Brexit Minister David Jones said that Brexiteers should also adopt a grassroots campaign to halt future ECJ overreach.
“Submitting the country to the judgement of a foreign court is a huge degradation of sovereignty,” Jones claimed.
“No patriotic British Government should ever countenance it. Brexiteers in Parliament should use every procedural device to try to stop it.
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Jacob Rees-Mogg pictured alongside fellow former MP Steve Baker
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“Brexiteers outside Parliament should write to their Labour MPs and make clear that they will do everything in their power to ensure they are not returned at the next General Election.”
Brexit alarm bells rung out even louder earlier today after the Prime Minister’s official spokesman refused to rule out the possibility that Starmer could sign the UK up to the ECJ, instead deciding “not to give a running commentary”.
No10 only went as far as to reaffirm its red lines on the customs union, single market and freedom of movement.
It is believed that the EU is hoping that the ECJ’s jurisdiction over the UK will extend from Northern Ireland to cover both carbon border taxes and veterinary deals.
European Court of Justice in Luxembourg
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Despite Rees-Mogg and Jones pointing out what efforts Brexiteers should take to prevent constitutional concessions, ex-European Research Group chairman Steve Baker argued only Labour MPs could stop Starmer from signing up to a sovereignty-pooling proposal.
Baker, who served as Northern Ireland Minister before losing his Wycombe seat on July 4, warned: “This is Groundhog Day. The UK is out and making its way. Any return to the jurisdiction of the ECJ for the whole UK repudiates the result.
“The unique circumstances of Northern Ireland are no excuse: NI has an open border with a foreign, EU country where GB does not.
“There is nothing Conservative, Reform or DUP MPs can do to stop any reversal by the Prime Minister. Only a resolute and well-organised band of Labour MPs could stop him.”
Boris Johnson secured the end of ECJ jurisdiction for Great Britain after then-EU negotiator Michel Barnier claimed the Luxembourg court was a red line for any accord between the UK and Brussels bloc.
Eurosceptics long-bemoaned the ECJ’s apparent overreach, with the Vote Leave campaign highlighting how it restricted efforts to fight terrorism.
Spanish company Factortame provoked particular fury after winning further access to British fishing waters following a lengthy legal battle at the Strasbourg court in 1991.
The Surrender Singh judgement also ruffled British feathers after it appeared to bend migration rules.
However, the UK ranked reasonably highly when it came to winning cases, with a 33 per cent success rate in cases brought against Britain between 2003 and 2016.
The figure put Britain above Italy, France and Germany but behind Ireland, the Netherlands and Denmark.
There have long-been fears that the ECJ would not be a “neutral” player following the UK’s decision to quit the Brussels bloc.
Johnson provoked Brussels in 2023 after looking at ways to remove the ECJ’s already existing oversight over Northern Ireland.
The former Prime Minister doubled-down on his opposition to ECJ overreach in a warning over the weekend.
Writing for The Daily Mail, Johnson argued: “By agreeing to the adjudication of the European court – without even having a judge on the court! – we have junked one of the fundamental principles of Brexit. And to what end?”
Keir Starmer in Estonia
PA
The European Commission has today announced its taking the British Government to the Strasbourg court over two alleged violations.
Brussels claimed there were “several shortcomings” in the UK’s implementation of European law that continued to affect EU nationals under Johnson’s Withdrawal Agreement.
The second case concerned Britain’s Brussels-breaking Bilateral Investment Treaties with Bulgaria, Czechia, Croatia, Lithuania, Poland and Slovenia.
Responding to both cases, a Government spokesman said: “These cases relate to issues from when the UK was an EU member state and during the transition period. We are not going to comment further on legal proceedings.
“We remain focused on working to reset our relationship with the EU and to make Brexit work for the British people.”
