Great Brexit reset launched with push for 2025 first deal

PM takes first step towards agreement with Germany today

- DAVID MADDOX, MILLIE COOKE

Sir Keir Starmer is set to launch his great Brexit reset with what he admits is “a once-in-a-generation opportunity” to fix the harms caused by leaving the European Union. The prime minister will hold a summit with German chancellor Olaf Scholz in Berlin today aimed at boosting business and trade, deepening defence and security cooperation, and increasing joint action on illegal migration.

However, the negotiations with the most influential and powerful member state in the EU are the first step in recalibrating Britain’s deal with the EU in a range of areas including trade and cross-border cooperation.

The prime minister has ordered his team to finalise the UK/German treaty in the next six months with the ambitious agreement expected to cover science, innovation and technology, clean energy, trade across the North Sea, supply chain resilience, energy security and green transition education, biodiversity, and the environment.

Sir Keir fought the election on a promise that he would “make Brexit work” by renegotiating the flawed deal agreed upon by Boris Johnson and the Tories. It comes as he has warned the country that he has hard decisions to make to “fix the rot” left by the Tories.