Reform UK plan for migrant detention centres in Green heartlands draws cross-party criticism

Labour has welcomed Sir Keir Starmer’s move to sign the UK up to a €90bn (£78bn) EU loan scheme for Ukraine, but the shadow foreign secretary, Priti Patel, has launched a blistering attack on what she called an “undemocratic hit job” after it emerged the prime minister could agree to pay Brussels up to £1bn a year for closer single market access.

Announcing the UK’s intention to join the loan at the European Political Community summit in Yerevan, Armenia, Sir Keir said the scheme would provide Ukraine with “capability that is desperately needed” in the fifth year of the war while creating jobs for British firms able to access the resulting defence contracts. Downing Street described the move as a “significant step” in deepening post-Brexit relations with the EU ahead of a bilateral summit expected this summer.

The shadow chancellor, Mel Stride, said his party welcomed the loan in principle but would need to see the details. The reaction from Ms Patel, however, was far less restrained and focused squarely on a separate report concerning the price of closer integration with Europe.

Single market cost concerns

The shadow foreign secretary was responding to a report in The Times stating that European negotiators have made it clear that paying an annual fee, expected to be around £1bn, is a condition of further UK access to the EU’s single market. “If the UK wants further integration they must ‘pay to play’,” one European diplomat told the paper. Negotiators are said to want Sir Keir to make the concession in principle at a summit this summer before detailed talks on more integration begin.

The government has not denied the story, although it has suggested it does not recognise the £1bn figure. Ms Patel was unequivocal in her condemnation. “Starmer is unpicking Brexit and planning another undemocratic hit job on British taxpayers by signing us up to a £1bn annual payment to the EU,” she said. “Once again, this weak prime minister goes to the negotiating table, comes home empty-handed, having fleeced hard pressed taxpayers with his terrible judgment.”

Pressed on the report by broadcasters in Armenia, Sir Keir defended the principle of paying for closer ties. “It’s in our national interest to be closer to Europe,” he said, arguing that the benefits for jobs and security “outweigh the cost.” He did not directly address the £1bn figure but insisted the move was part of a wider reset with Brussels that is vital for the UK.

The debate over the single market fee comes as the UK opens talks to join the EU’s €4bn European Innovation Council Fund, a scheme providing venture capital for deep tech innovation. The move was announced in a joint statement by Sir Keir and the European Commission president, Ursula von der Leyen, who said they agreed on the “importance of being ambitious” in strengthening UK-EU links.

Reform UK and the campaign trail

On the domestic campaign trail, Reform UK has drawn cross-party condemnation for a proposal to locate migrant detention centres holding up to 24,000 people in constituencies that vote Green. Zia Yusuf, the party’s home affairs spokesperson, said a Reform government would not put centres in areas with Reform MPs or councils but would “prioritise Green controlled parliamentary constituencies.” He promoted the slogan “Vote Green, Get Illegals” and described the plan as an “exercise in democratic consent.”

The Green party called the policy “abhorrent,” while Anna Turley, the Labour chair, said it revealed “contempt for all voters.” Kemi Badenoch, the Conservative leader, reposted a thread from the former business secretary Simon Clarke, who called the plan an “abhorrent” abuse of ministerial power that would almost certainly be struck down in court, wasting millions of pounds. The Scottish Greens’ co-leader, Ross Greer, described it as “Trumpesque” and “pathetic.”

Legal and practical challenges have been heavily highlighted. David Aaronovitch suggested the practical and legal problems are “insuperable,” while Sunder Katwala of the British Future thinktank said the policy was potentially illegal and illogical. Fraser Nelson, the Times columnist, called it a “partisan style” of politics that rejects the idea of a prime minister for all, and the Financial Times’ Gideon Rachman said it was “trolling as public policy” that would damage Reform.

Labour leadership in the balance

With local election results due on Friday, the internal party focus is fixed firmly on Sir Keir’s leadership. While Labour MPs are publicly calling for an end to the “endless drama,” even those urging stability acknowledge the prime minister faces a perilous moment. A senior figure has warned that replacing Sir Keir could trigger an early general election, stating that “neither Wes [Streeting] nor Angela [Rayner] command the kind of overwhelming support you would need to produce a stable government.”

Reports suggest manoeuvring is already underway. Allies of Ed Miliband have reportedly indicated the energy secretary wants to act as a “kingmaker” in a potential leadership bid by the Manchester mayor, Andy Burnham, in return for the post of chancellor. Burnham’s camp have also reportedly asked some of Sir Keir’s top No. 10 staff to stay on if he finds his way into Downing Street. The deputy Labour leader, Lucy Powell, acknowledged the party’s difficult position, saying: “There’s no magic bullet here for us. We are in a difficult world.”

Meanwhile, the Welsh Senedd election is being fought under a new closed proportional list system. A final MRP poll by More in Common projects a dramatic shake-up, with Plaid Cymru and Reform UK tied for the most seats and Labour potentially falling to third place with just 14 seats. The survey suggests the Green party could win their first five seats in the Senedd. The political commentator Will Hayward has predicted that a Plaid Cymru minority government is the most likely outcome.

Foreign and domestic policy

In his public remarks at the summit, Sir Keir warned that Europe must face the fact that its alliance with the US is under strain, citing proxy attacks on UK streets, cyber-attacks, and the economic shock of the wars in Ukraine and Iran. “There is more tension in the alliances than there should be,” he told leaders.

Downing Street confirmed that further sanctions on Russian companies involved in military supply chains would be announced later this week. At home, the environment secretary, Emma Reynolds, announced plans to build tree nurseries at prisons and turn military ranges into heathland or peat bogs as part of a push to make government land more nature-friendly.

Elsewhere, the Green MP Siân Berry said she did not know whether police used excessive force during an arrest following the stabbing of two Jewish people in Golders Green, arguing that scrutiny of body camera footage was needed. Her party leader, Zack Polanski, has apologised for reposting a message implying the force was excessive.