You can’t keep anything secret in government; the truth always has a way of slipping out, and this government is no different. This week’s revelations in the press that Labour is preparing to surrender our regulatory independence on meat and dairy products mark another lurch towards EU alignment. A quiet betrayal. A slow leak. The kind of politics people thought they were voting to leave behind in 2016.
As Shadow DEFRA Minister Victoria Atkins rightly pointed out, this is not a one-off: “Last week Labour was planning to surrender our fishing rights. Now they want to hand back our sovereign powers without even a seat at the table.” That’s not partnership. That’s submission.
This isn’t about common-sense cooperation on trade. This is about dynamic alignment, a slippery-sounding phrase that, in practice, means letting Brussels write our rules while Britain keeps schtum. And it’s not just regulation – it’s enforcement too. The prospect of the European Court of Justice once again having a say in British matters is back on the table.
Rural communities know exactly what this means. We saw it during the first years post-Brexit, when British food exporters struggled to cope with new red tape, only to be ignored by both London and Brussels. But now the supply chains have realigned, we are getting some of the best prices we’ve ever had, and beef and lamb are soaring. Beef is now worth twice what it was before Brexit.
Labour's quiet betrayal marks another lurch towards EU alignment - James Wright
GB News/Getty Images
If this is such a good deal, why do we only ever hear about it through leaks and anonymous briefings? Labour’s manifesto had only 87 words on farming, now we can see why.
Why are hard-working farmers and fishermen, the people who feed the nation and steward our countryside, left guessing what the next headline will bring? It’s not leadership. It’s not transparency. It’s not what we were promised.
Sovereignty wasn’t a slogan. It was a cry for accountability. For control over our laws, our borders, and our economy. You don’t have to be a flag-waving Brexiteer to understand that signing up to foreign rules without a say is a terrible deal, economically, constitutionally, and democratically.
For farmers, it risks a fresh round of regulatory creep. If Brussels tightens rules on animal welfare, chemical use, or environmental audits, our family farms, already battered by inflation, flooding, and uncertainty, will once again be at the mercy of urban European policymakers 500 miles away.
Hard working farmers and fishermen are being thrown aside by Labour.
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And for British business more broadly, it sets a dangerous precedent. Why would any innovator, manufacturer or entrepreneur build in Britain if our rules are written elsewhere and subject to foreign courts?
Let’s not forget, trade deals are a negotiation, not a gift. The EU didn’t offer dynamic alignment as an olive branch; they demanded it as a condition. And Labour, from the safety of their shadow briefings, seem all too happy to accept.
The British people voted to take back control. Not for it to be quietly handed back via a Brussels backchannel. If Labour truly believes this is the future, let them say so. Let them campaign for re-joining the single market, for regulatory alignment, for ECJ jurisdiction. But they won’t – because they know they’d lose.
This isn’t cooperation. It’s capitulation.
And rural Britain shouldn’t stand for it.
