A lot of people consider Brexit to be the dumbest, most counter-productive mistake in political history, whereas others believe it’s still a case of being patient until it proves to have been an incredble decision. Either way, Keir Starmer is set to make some changes to the deal today (Monday, 19 May).

Five years on from Brexit, Starmer plans to reestablish UK-EU relations in certain areas; particularly trade, security and economic cooperation.

Obviously this is not a reversal of Brexit (not yet, anyway), but it does mark a significant softening of the UK’s post-Brexit stance. Here are the key aspects of the agreement set to be announced today (via The Times)

• Fishing Rights: The deal extends EU access to UK fisheries for 12 years, a significant increase from the UK’s initial proposal. This has faced criticism from some UK stakeholders, but the government has announced a £360 million fund to support coastal communities.

• Trade and Standards Alignment: To ease trade barriers, the UK will align its food safety and animal welfare standards with EU regulations, facilitating smoother exports to Europe.

• Defense and Security Cooperation: The agreement includes provisions for closer defense collaboration and the integration of the UK into the EU’s emissions trading scheme.

• Youth Mobility Scheme: Negotiations are underway for a youth mobility scheme, though details, including potential caps on migration numbers, remain to be confirmed.

Naturally, some pro-Brexit figures and supporters are absolutely hating the sound of this, claiming that it undermines key Brexit freedoms, especially concerning fishing rights and potential migration increases. But then didn’t Keir Starmer announce that the UK will be ‘taking back its borders’ just the other week? He wouldn’t be playing both sides of the fence here, would he?

Again, this is in no way reversing Brexit, but it’s effectively moving the UK closer to the EU in practical terms, while remaining outside the EU’s political structures. These things do happen incrementally though, so maybe Starmer and Labour will continue to test the waters in regards to what rejoining the EU might be like?

Would that really be so bad, given how things turned out over the last 5 years? Will be interesting to see how Nigel Farage spins it, in any case…

Meanwhile, it seems we can put those rumours of Keir Starmer’s cocaine sesh with Emmanuel Macron to rest.