Sir Ed Davey has piled pressure on Sir Keir Starmer over his negotiations with the European Union, calling for the prime minister to “have some urgency” in his great “reset” of relations with the bloc.
The leader of the Liberal Democrats also criticised the prime minister’s decision to rule out a youth mobility scheme with the European Union, saying it is “quite odd and bad”, as well as calling for a return to the single market.
The European Commission has made a youth mobility scheme a key demand amid Sir Keir’s post-Brexit “reset” with Brussels after years of tense relations under successive Conservative prime ministers.
The agreement, which mirrors similar arrangements Britain already has with countries including Australia and Japan, would allow 18 to 35-year-olds to move and work freely between countries for up to two years.
Speaking to journalists at the press gallery lunch in Parliament, Sir Ed warned that the government will not be able to grow the UK economy “without rebuilding our relationship with our European partners and getting a better trade deal”.
“It’s just not going to happen”, he warned. “We can’t wait around to get our economy going, we need to have some urgency in rebuilding that relationship.”
He added: “Our willingness to counter even the youth mobility scheme is quite odd and bad.”
Echoing Sir Ed’s remarks, Michael Heseltine later told The Independent that the “simplest way to build confidence in investors to put their money in our economy is to convince them we are going back to the single market”.
“A generous travel system for young people would be a first step in that direction”, he added.
Lord Heseltine, who is the president of the European Movement, warned: “A failure to contemplate this is a part of the conspiracy of silence that has denied the British people a proper understanding of the disaster of Brexit.”
The prime minister visited Brussels earlier this month as part of a wider attempt to “reset” the UK’s relationship with the EU.
While Sir Keir has previously insisted the UK will not rejoin the bloc within his lifetime, he has pledged to “make Brexit work” by renegotiating the deal agreed upon by Boris Johnson and the Tories.
The prime minister scored the first major breakthrough last week with a landmark new defence deal with Germany.
Under the plans, German aircraft in the Luftwaffe, Germany’s air force, will operate from a base in Britain to help protect the North Atlantic from the growing threat from Russia, while around 400 jobs are set to be created in a new munitions factory in the UK.
Speaking about the ongoing negotiations with the EU, the Lib Dem leader said: “We’re looking forward to those negotiations, it’s really important for us.
“I think the prime minister is right to go to Europe five or six times since the election. He’s right to rebuild that relationship.”
Sir Ed added: “We need a much better trade deal as soon as we can, with the single market as our ultimate objective when that’s possible.
“And I think if you have that approach in the negotiations, I think you’d see a sea change in attitude from Europe, because they no longer trust the UK. How sad is that? We have to rebuild that trust.”
