❓WHAT HAPPENED: The European Union (EU) is reportedly demanding a “Farage clause” in a so-called Brexit reset deal being negotiated by Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer, which would impose a financial penalty if a future government headed by Brexit champion Nigel Farage withdraws from the agreement.
👤WHO WAS INVOLVED: The EU, Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer, and Nigel Farage.
📍WHEN & WHERE: Negotiations between Starmer and the EU are ongoing in Europe, with implications for the next British general election and beyond.
💬KEY QUOTE: “No Parliament may bind its successor and we will not honour any clause. If Starmer signs this, it’s a democratic outrage.” – Nigel Farage
🎯IMPACT: Critics argue the clause undermines British sovereignty, with Reform promising to overturn any such agreement if elected.
The European Union (EU) is said to be demanding a so-called “Farage clause” in its ongoing negotiations for a Brexit “reset” with Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer, who previously campaigned against Brexit and in favor of a second referendum to overturn it. The “Farage clause” would require British taxpayers to pay substantial financial compensation if a future government, possibly headed by Brexit champion Nigel Farage, were to withdraw from any proposed deal.
Reports indicate that Brussels views the clause as a “safety provision to provide stability and a deterrent for Farage and Co,” with one unnamed EU diplomat telling British press that “The EU wants an agreement long-term and not only until 2029, should a change happen at the next election.” Notably, Britain’s next general election must be held no later than 2029, with recent polls consistently showing Nigel Farage’s Reform Party in first place.
Prime Minister Starmer is pursuing closer “alignment” with the EU in sectors including agriculture, food production, and energy, which would effectively mean handing over much of the control over the regulation of these sectors to EU control. Farage has condemned this approach of undoing Britain’s separation from the EU piecemeal as a “Brexit betrayal,” effectively handing sovereignty back to the EU and subjecting the country to the jurisdiction of the European Court of Justice (ECJ).
Farage has pledged to terminate any agreement with the EU signed by Starmer if Reform gains power. In response to reports that the EU is seeking to make this prohibitively expensive, Farage declared, “No Parliament may bind its successor and we will not honour any clause. If Starmer signs this, it’s a democratic outrage.”
Since Britain voted to leave the EU in 2016, a British political class and civil service largely opposed to cutting ties with the bloc has repeatedly sabotaged Brexit. The exit deal currently in place was negotiated largely by former Prime Minister Theresa May, who campaigned against Brexit, and civil servant Olly Robbins, who previously headed a club dedicated to transforming the EU into a federal union along the lines of the United States, with its member states giving up even more sovereignty. May’s successor, Boris Johnson, made only cosmetic changes to her deal, retaining contentious provisions such as an agreement to remain subject to the European Court of Human Rights, and to leave Northern Ireland effectively still inside the EU for most purposes.
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