Sir Keir Starmer has been accused of turning his back on Brexit amid plans to place Britain back under the jurisdiction of European judges.
An agreement on dynamic alignment is being mulled over between the UK and Brussels bloc, with Starmer set to tie the UK to the EU’s standards on food and agricultural imports.
Such a situation would hand powers to the European Court of Justice to look over British trade.
Starmer, who served as Jeremy Corbyn’s Remain-supporting Shadow Brexit Secretary, vowed not to relitigate the debate around EU membership ahead of the 2024 General Election.
The Prime Minister ruled out rejoining the Single Market or Customs Union, moving away from his previous pledge to restore Freedom of Movement.
However, speculation about buckling to Brussels on dynamic alignment prompted fury from Brexiteers.
Former Brexit negotiator Lord Frost told The Sun: “It’s increasingly obvious that Labour are going to sell out the country once again.
“This move means that our farmers and food producers will have to live by laws they have no say in, enforced by a foreign court – the absolute opposite of what Brexit means.
“We would be giving up control over a significant part of our economy and getting nothing back for it. You simply can’t trust Labour to negotiate.”
Ex-Brexit Opportunities Minister Sir Jacob Rees-Mogg also raised concerns about the ECJ scuppering a potential UK-US trade deal.
Speaking during his GB News show State of the Nation, the Tory grandee said: “This move would suggest an effort from the Government to surrender our regulatory freedoms, along with our fish, to the EU, even though it could have a detrimental effect on negotiations with the US.
“Any move to regulatory alignment would damage Britain’s ability to negotiate trade deals with other nations that do not follow EU processes, including the United States.
“Simplistically, the US has ‘outcome’ standards: Is the product safe? While the EU has ‘process’ standards, is the method of production approved?
“Adjusted for differences in reporting, this leads to similar food safety standards. And this is despite the reverend Starmer’s position that Britain doesn’t need to pick sides between the ‘special relationships’ with both the US and EU.”
Starmer was accused of establishing a “Surrender Squad” of civil servants at the tail-end of 2024 after a leaked document appeared to open the door to ECJ jurisdiction.
It is believed that the EU is hoping that the Strasbourg court will extend its jurisdiction from just Northern Ireland to cover both carbon border taxes and veterinary deals.
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 Luxembourg 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.
EU Relations Minister Nick Thomas-Symonds has been negotiating with Brussels in the hope of securing a “reset” in relations.
“A closer, more cooperative relationship with the EU will improve the British people’s security, safety and prosperity,” the UK Government said in a statement.
“We will act in Britain’s national interest and we have been clear there will be no return to freedom of movement, the customs union or the single market. We will not provide a running commentary on talks.”