Sir Keir Starmer has been urged not to accept further EU influence amid Tory fears the prime minister will undo Brexit and hurt the UK’s chance of a trade deal with the US.
Sir Keir is meeting European leaders at an informal retreat in Belgium ahead of the EU-UK Summit that will take place later this year.
It comes amid concerns Donald Trump could launch a trade war with the EU after the US president threatened states with tariffs. On Friday, Mr Trump announced he was imposing tariffs on imported goods from Mexico, Canada and China.
Last week, business secretary Jonathan Reynolds told the BBC he hoped the UK would be excluded from tariffs.
Ahead of Sir Keir’s visit to Belgium, Tory leader Kemi Badenoch urged the prime minister to maintain the UK’s right to pursue trade deals – including with the US – outside the EU customs union.
Ms Badenoch accused Sir Keir and the Labour government of “trying to reopen the divisions of the past and edge us back into the EU”.
She set the prime minister five tests to maintain Brexit.
Among the tests she has called on the prime minister to meet are commitments to: no “backsliding” on free movement or the compulsory transfer of asylum seekers; no new money paid to the EU; and no reduction in fishing rights.
She also urged Sir Keir not to take any rules from the EU as he seeks to “reset” the relationship with the bloc, including dynamic alignment on trade standards, or allowing the European courts to have jurisdiction over UK law.
Nato must have “primacy” when it comes to European security, the Tory leader said in her final test for Sir Keir.
She said: “These tests will ensure we seize the opportunities of the future and use our independence to grow the British economy. Under my leadership, the Conservatives will always stand up for Britain and fight for our hard-won freedoms.”
A Labour spokesperson described the Brexit “tests” as “yet more hypocrisy from Kemi Badenoch and the Conservatives who had eight years to make a success of Brexit but failed”.
They added: “After running an open border experiment that resulted in record high net migration, the Conservatives completely botched the job on Brexit – a record so bad that Kemi Badenoch herself publicly criticised Conservatives’ ‘mistakes’ on Brexit in her first speech as leader.”
