Mandelson criticises ‘fetish' for scrapping EU's rules

Peter Mandelson has hit out at what he said was a fetish” for scrapping EU rules that work in Britain’s favour but warned that the UK will not rejoin the bloc for the foreseeable future”.

- MILLIE COOKE

Speaking at the Atlantic Council in Washington, the UK’s ambassador to the US defended Sir Keir Starmer’s “reset” deal with the EU, saying the previous deal Britain had struck with the bloc was “pretty miserable”.

He denied that closer alignment with the EU would begin the process of Britain rejoining it. “Why make a fetish of disalignment when we know that it’s in the interests of our business and traders to pursue and to follow those rules and standards”, he said.

The previous Conservative government had promised to scrap up to 4,000 EU laws as part of a post-Brexit bonfire of regulations, but watered down the plans almost entirely as a result of the massive administrative burden.