Starmer seeks to improve on 'botched' trade deal with EU

LONDON

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer is seeking to reset relations at home and abroad.

During a visit on July 7 to Edinburgh, that he billed as an “immediate reset” with the regional governments of Scotland, Northern Ireland and Wales, Starmer said he would also seek to improve the U.K.'s “botched” trade deal with the European Union.

"I do think that we can get a much better deal than the botched deal that (former Prime Minister) Boris Johnson saddled the U.K. with,” he said in reference to the pact negotiated after Brexit.

Starmer said there were many discussions ahead to strengthen trading, research and defense ties with the EU.

But he said those talks had begun as his top diplomat made his first visit abroad to Germany, Poland and Sweden.

The Labour government inherited a wobbly economy that left Britons struggling to pay bills after global economic woes and fiscal missteps.

It also faces a public disenchanted after 14 years of chaotic Conservative rule and fiscal austerity that hollowed out public services, including the revered National Health Service, which Starmer has declared broken.

Starmer said he wants to transfer power from the bureaucratic halls of government in London to leaders who know what’s best for their communities.

Business Secretary Jonathan Reynolds said on July 7 on Sky News that the U.K. should look for ways to improve trade with the EU and that removing some trade barriers was sensible.

But he said the Labour government was not open to the free movement of people that was required as a member of the union.