Politics

Starmer’s UK-EU deal: What does it mean for you?

Published

2 months ago

May 20, 2025

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Sir Keir Starmer has signed a landmark post-Brexit deal with the European Union.

The agreement has been lauded by the prime minister as “a new era in our relationship… moving on from stale old debates” and “following through on what the British public voted for last year”.

His opponents are far from pleased, however, with both Reform and the Conservatives arguing that this sees the UK move back towards the EU and against the will of the people as voted for in 2016. Reform leader Nigel Farage has labelled the deal ‘a surrender’ to the EU by Sir Keir.

But what is actually in the deal? What does it mean, and who stands to benefit the most from it?

Niall Paterson and Sky News political correspondent Tamara Cohen unpack the seismic deal announced in London. The pair look at the benefits for the UK in the deal. They also analyse how damaging some of the prime minister’s concessions could be for the Labour Party, and how Reform could capitalise on this.

Producers: Gabriel Radus, Soila Apparicio
Editor: Philly Beaumont

Politics

Jingye and Whitehall officials hold talks over British Steel future

Published

2 hours ago

July 9, 2025

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Jingye and Whitehall officials hold talks over British Steel future

The Chinese owner of British Steel has held fresh talks with government officials in a bid to break the impasse over ministers’ determination not to compensate it for seizing control of the company.

Sky News has learnt that executives from Jingye Group met senior civil servants from the Department for Business and Trade (DBT) late last week to discuss ways to resolve the standoff.

Whitehall sources said the talks had been cordial, but that no meaningful progress had been made towards a resolution.

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Jingye wants the government to agree to pay it hundreds of millions of pounds for taking control of British Steel in April – a move triggered by the Chinese group’s preparations for the permanent closure of its blast furnaces in Scunthorpe.

Such a move would have cost thousands of jobs and ended Britain’s centuries-old ability to produce virgin steel.

Jingye had been in talks for months to seek £1bn in state aid to facilitate the Scunthorpe plant’s transition to greener steelmaking, but was offered just half that sum by ministers.

British Steel has not yet been formally nationalised, although that remains a probable outcome.

Jonathan Reynolds, the business secretary, has previously dismissed the idea of compensating Jingye, saying British Steel’s equity was essentially worthless.

Last month, he met his Chinese counterpart, where the issue of British Steel was discussed between the two governments in person for the first time.

Jingye has hired the leading City law firm Linklaters to explore the recovery of hundreds of millions of pounds it invested in the Scunthorpe-based company before the government seized control of it.

News of last week’s meeting comes as British steelmakers face an anxious wait to learn whether their exports to the US face swingeing tariffs as part of US President Donald Trump’s trade war.

Sky News’s economics and data editor, Ed Conway, revealed this week that the UK would miss a White House-imposed deadline to agree a trade deal on steel and aluminium this week.

Jingye declined to comment, while a spokesman for the Department for Business and Trade said: “We acted quickly to ensure the continued operations of the blast furnaces but recognise that securing British Steel’s long-term future requires private sector investment.

“We have not nationalised British Steel and are working closely with Jingye on options for the future, and we will continue work on determining the best long-term sustainable future for the site.”