Brexit: ‘We don’t want to diverge’ from EU, says Sir Keir Starmer

Published

2 years ago

September 21, 2023

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Sir Keir Starmer has declared “we don’t want to diverge” from EU rules in footage of a conference of centre-left leaders in Canada seen by Sky News.

The Labour leader went beyond his usual cautious formulations on Britain’s relationship with the EU at an event on Saturday alongside the Norwegian prime minister, Jonas Gahr Store.

Sir Keir argued that Britain’s relationship with the EU could be much stronger, while still remaining outside the bloc and outside the single market, “the more we share a future together”.

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The comments surprised EU diplomats, who believe they are significant.

Leading expert Charles Grant, director of the Centre for European Reform, said that the comments go further than what Sir Keir has said previously, and that Brexiteers might question the point of leaving the EU if the UK does not significantly deregulate.

This is likely to trigger a discussion about the nature of a relationship with the EU and questions from some about whether Britain can maximise the advantages of Brexit if it is largely following EU rules.

The comments are likely to be welcomed by some businesses who do not want to have to operate under multiple sets of rules. However, others who feel held back by EU bureaucracy are set to be disappointed.

The remarks were made on Saturday evening. Sir Keir was responding to a question from John McTernan, a former aide to Sir Tony Blair, at a conference for progressive leaders in Montreal.

“Most of the conflict with the UK being outside of the UK [sic] arises in so far as the UK wants to diverge and do different things to the rest of our EU partners,” the Labour leader said.

“Obviously the more we share values, the more we share a future together, the less the conflict. And actually different ways of solving problems become available.

“Actually we don’t want to diverge, we don’t want to lower standards, we don’t want to rip up environmental standards, working standards for people that work, food standards and all the rest of it.

“So suddenly, you’re in a space where, notwithstanding the obvious fact that we’re outside the EU and not in the [European Economic Area], there’s a lot more common ground than you might think.”

He said there were a lot of shared values and history with the EU, and that on security issues, and NATO, it was good that the conflict in Ukraine brought institutions together – “that has created a wider space in Europe for a discussion.”

Last week, Sir Keir shut down speculation he might join an EU quota system on migrants after he said he would talk to the bloc about a migrant returns deal.

These comments go much further than Sir Keir went in an interview with the Financial Times on Monday, when he reconfirmed that he would negotiate a better deal with the EU.

Almost everyone recognises the deal Boris Johnson struck is not a good one – “it’s far too thin”, Sir Keir said in an interview, adding: “As we go into 2025 we will attempt to get a much better deal for the UK.”

Mr Grant, who is one of the foremost experts in UK and EU relations, said the comments were new.

“I think if Keir Starmer wants to get the best deal with the prime minister, he’s going to have to prepare the ground, which is why he saw Emmanuel Macron last week, why he probably said some comments when he was in Montreal that were quite interesting,” he said.

“Because he’s trying to soften up the other world leaders, so they know what to expect when he becomes prime minister if he does.”

Next week, Mr Grant and the CER think tank will publish “a European strategy for Labour.”

Asked if he was surprised by Sir Keir’s comments, he said: “I don’t know whether it was intended or not, and maybe it just slipped out late on the Saturday evening.

“The fact that he hasn’t said anything quite similar in the UK is perhaps telling. Maybe what he thinks is that we shouldn’t diverge too much with the EU because he understands instinctively that it’s actually bad for businesses.”

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Asked if keeping EU rules would undermine the rationale of Brexit, Grant replied: “I think that some of the Brexiteers have a point.

“The only economic case really that backs up Brexit is the idea of Singapore-on-Thames. The idea that if you do leave the EU, you are free to have your own rules.”

Sky News approached Labour HQ ahead of publication.

“One of the [two contradictory] Brexit arguments was that the UK could become Singapore-on-Thames i.e. the whole deregulation agenda of everything from environmental to labour reforms. We’ve always rejected that, we’re not interested in that sort of divergence,” a spokesman said.

A Labour spokesman added: “That doesn’t mean we support dynamic alignment. We’re not joining the single market or the customs union. We will not be in a situation where we are a rule taker.”

UK

How a cup of coffee led Sky News to a sex offender on the run

Published

14 hours ago

November 8, 2025

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How a cup of coffee led Sky News to a sex offender on the run

It started with a strong espresso in a simple cafe on a side street in north London.

Several Algerian men were inside, a few others were outside on the pavement, smoking.

I’d been told the wanted prisoner might be in Finsbury Park, so I ordered a coffee and asked if they’d seen him.

They were happy to tell me that some of them knew Brahim Kaddour-Cherif – the 24-year-old offender who was on the run.

One of the customers revealed to me that he’d actually seen him the night before.

“He wants to hand himself to police,” the friend said candidly.

This was the beginning of the end of a high-profile manhunt.

The Algerian convicted sex offender had been at large since 29 October, after he was mistakenly released from HMP Wandsworth in south London.

Within an hour of meeting the friend in the cafe, he had followed myself and camera operator Josh Masters to a nearby street.

We weren’t yet filming – he didn’t want any attention or fuss surrounding him.

“Follow me, he’s in the park,” the man told me.

“Follow – but not too close.”

We did.

I was in the same park a few weeks ago after fugitive Hadush Kebatu, the Ethiopian sex offender – also wrongly released from prison – was arrested in Finsbury Park.

It was odd to be back in the same spot in such similar circumstances.

Read more on Tom’s story:
Wrongly released prisoner’s angry reaction
‘I’m glad he’s been arrested‘

As he led us through the park past joggers, young families and people playing tennis, the man headed for the gates near Finsbury Park station.

All of a sudden, two police officers ran past us.

The Met had received a tip-off from a member of the public.

It was frantic. Undercover officers, uniformed cops, screeching tyres and blaring sirens. We were in the middle of the manhunt.

As they scoured the streets at speed, we walked by some of the Algerian men I’d seen in the cafe.

One man near the group was wearing green tracksuit bottoms, a beanie hat and had glasses on.

“It’s him, it’s him,” one of the other men said to me, gesturing towards him.

The man in the beanie then quickly turned on his heel and walked off.

“It’s him, it’s him,” another guy agreed.

The suspect was walking off while the police were still searching the nearby streets.

Josh and I caught up with him and I asked directly: “Are you Brahim?”

You may have watched the exchange in the Sky News video – he was in denial, evasive and pretended the suspect had pedalled off on a Lime bike.

I can only guess he knew the game was up, but for whatever reason, he was keeping up the lie.

Moments later, one of the bystanders told me “it is him” – with added urgency.

Only the prisoner knows why he then walked up to the nearby police van – officers quickly moved to handcuff him and tell him why he was being arrested.

Over the next 10 minutes, he became agitated. His story changed as I repeatedly asked if he had been the man inside HMP Wandsworth.

Officers needed confirmation too – one quickly pulled out a smartphone and checked an image of the wanted man from one of Sky News’ online platforms.

“It’s not my f****** fault, they release me!” he yelled at me.

The search was over, the prisoner cage in the back of the van was opened and he was guided in.

I then spoke to another Algerian man who had tipped off the police – he told me he hated sex offenders and the shame he felt over the whole episode.

The community had done the right thing – there were two tip-offs – one to me, one to the police.

The farce of this manhunt had gone on long enough.

UK

Nadjib, who tipped off police over released prisoner Brahim Kaddour-Cherif, tells Sky News he’s ‘happy to see him arrested’

Published

14 hours ago

November 8, 2025

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Nadjib, who tipped off police over released prisoner Brahim Kaddour-Cherif, tells Sky News he's 'happy to see him arrested'

“It’s him, it’s him, it’s him”, the man told me urgently.

While police were frantically searching in Finsbury Park for wanted sex offender Brahim Kaddour-Cherif, locals were telling me where he was.

Immediately after the dramatic arrest, filmed exclusively by Sky News we spoke to the North African man who tipped off the police.

Nadjib had been on the lookout for the convicted sex offender, who had been spending time in different parts of north London since his release from HMP Wandsworth.

He even had a folded-up newspaper clipping in his pocket so that he could check the picture himself.

He told Sky News he was “very happy when he got arrested”.

“I don’t like the sex offenders,” he said.

“I know him from the community. He has been around here every night since he was released from prison.”

Not only did he tip the police off about the prisoner’s whereabouts, but he also witnessed the other high-profile manhunt that ended in the same park last month.

Ethiopian asylum seeker Hadush Kebatu was also arrested in Finsbury Park after a 48-hour manhunt in the capital. He was then deported to Ethiopia.

“When he [Kebatu] got arrested in the park I was there,” Nadjib said.

I asked him why both men ended up in the same park in north London.

“Because the community, he came here for the community of Algerians,” he said.

Several Algerian people that I spoke to on Friday told me how shameful they thought it was that this sex offender was still on the run.

“Job done,” Nadjib said, before walking off.

UK

Alice Figueiredo: NHS trust and ward manager to be sentenced – over a decade after young patient’s death

Published

14 hours ago

November 8, 2025

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Alice Figueiredo: NHS trust and ward manager to be sentenced - over a decade after young patient's death

An NHS trust and a ward manager will be sentenced next week for health and safety failings – more than a decade after a young woman died in a secure mental health hospital.

Warning: This article contains references to suicide.

Earlier this year, a jury found the North East London NHS Foundation Trust and ward manager Benjamin Aninakwa did not do enough to prevent Alice Figueiredo from killing herself.

The decisions were reached after the joint-longest jury deliberation in English legal history.

Alice was 22 years old when she took her own life at London’s Goodmayes Hospital in July 2015.

Her parents sat through seven months of difficult and graphic evidence – and told Sky News the experience retraumatised them.

Jane Figueiredo said: “It’s very distressing, because you know that she’s been failed at every point all the way along, and you’re also reliving the suffering that she went through.

“It’s adding trauma on top of the wound that you’ve already got, the worst wound you can imagine, of losing your child.”

Alice’s stepfather Max said he remains “appalled” that she died in a place they thought would care for her.

“The fact we have these repeated deaths of very young people in secure mental health units shocks me to the core. How can society look at that event and portray it as something that happens as a matter of course?”

Ms Figueiredo said Alice had predicted her own death.

“She said to us – out of fear really: ‘The only way I’m going to leave this ward is in a body bag.’

“It’s because she did not feel safe.”

In a statement, the North East London NHS Foundation Trust said: “We are deeply sorry for Alice’s death, and we extend our heartfelt condolences to her family and loved ones.

“We have taken significant steps to continually improve the physical and social environment, deliberately designed to support recovery, safety, wellbeing, and assist our workforce in delivering compassionate care.”

For Alice’s family, the convictions have brought some justice, but they will never have complete closure.

“As a mum your bereavement doesn’t ever end, it changes over years as you go on, but it’s unending. The thought I won’t even hear her voice is unbearable and I still miss it. I still miss her voice,” Ms Figueiredo said.

Anyone feeling emotionally distressed or suicidal can call Samaritans for help on 116 123 or email jo@samaritans.org in the UK. In the US, call the Samaritans branch in your area or 1 (800) 273-TALK.