Minister 'promoted' UK deals with EU passport electronic gate

Government minister confirmed that a deal that would allow UK passport holders to use EU electronic license plates at airports is “pushing”.

European Relations Minister Nick Thomas-Symonds, who led the negotiations ahead of the UK EU summit in London, said a deal that prevents people from being trapped in line at the border “will be a very wise goal”.

Speaking Sunday with the BBC of Laura Kuenssberg's program, he also raised hopes for a deal on youth liquidity and said he was "confident" about the changes in lowering food prices.

Conservative MP Alex Burghart claimed that the government’s proposed agreement with the EU could mean that the UK becomes a “rules legal person.”

The UK and the EU will hold their first bilateral summit since Brexit on Monday, which Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer described as a "very important moment".

Both sides hope to reach an agreement on many issues, including trade and security.

Thomas-Symonds describes the conversation, like "The Last Time" where he focuses on work, lower family bills and stronger boundaries.

Asked if he was confident that British travelers would be able to use EU electronic license plates at European airports, said: “I certainly would push people to experience it faster.

“I think we can all agree that having more time to do what we want to do, whether it’s vacation or traveling at work… would be a very wise goal.”

The minister said he was also keen on progress in reducing food prices by reducing traditional Chinese tape festivals and was confident, but added: "Until everything was reached, no consensus was reached."

He added: "We knew our truck was waiting for 16 hours and the fresh food in the back could not be exported because frankly it was just falling off, the traditional Chinese tape festival, all the certification needed, and we absolutely wanted to reduce that."

Burghart told the plan that his main focus was the government signing EU standards and becoming a "rule extractor - one thing we left particularly when we left the EU".

He said the government has not ruled out “dynamic alliances”, although the UK and the EU maintain equal standards for food and trade regulation when the UK makes future decisions.

He added: “Since the government has not ruled yet, we must assume it is very firmly on the table and is about to happen.

“If it is about to happen, it is the surrender of some British sovereignty, and we will not support it.”

A deal on whether young people in the EU can live and work in the UK and vice versa, Thomas-Symonds insists that he is negotiating around “a smart and controlled plan”, adding: “No one suggests that this is freedom of movement. It is our red line”.

Instead of directly responding to questioning the upper limit of numbers or specific time limits, the minister stressed that “control factors are very important.”

He also denied plans to exempt student numbers from overall immigration numbers and added “anything agreed upon – I stressed that this was in the last hour of sensitivity – would be consistent with the reduction in net migration levels we promised.”

Liberal Democratic MP Calum Miller, who appeared in the same plan, said he “didn’t seize the meaning of the moment in a changing environment to really develop further.”

"Putting yourself on an ambitious path to the customs alliance is the best way to provide some certainty for British businesses," the party's diplomatic spokesman said.