EXCLUSIVE: Bombshell revelation – Starmer slams Brexit into reverse for the car industry and puts his foot down hard

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A guest report from the Stand for our Sovereignty Team

Government document reveals Sir Keir is poised to reimpose EU regulations on vital UK industry, dismantling Brexit gains and triggering a surge in consumer prices

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Starmer’s policy slips out in a department’s written response to an MP, seen by Stand for Our Sovereignty 

For months now news items have been appearing showing Sir Keir Starmer’s government has agreed to align with the EU on one relatively small item after another, usually dressed up in highly technical language. However no-one has been able to prove that the government intends full alignment with EU regulations in any one industry…. UNTIL NOW.

In a stunning revelation shared exclusively with GB News, the new Stand for Our Sovereignty organisation backed by think-tank Brexit Facts4EU has obtained proof that one of Britain’s most vital industries — automotive — is being forced to abandon UK regulations and fully align with EU rules. This seismic shift, just years after Brexit promised regulatory freedom, marks a dramatic U-turn with far-reaching consequences.

This presents a major blow to British industry, and a likely surge in prices for consumers —on a scale that will be felt profoundly across the country.

The May 2024, pre-Starmer policy for the automotive industry  

In May 2024, the then government was crystal clear about the nature of the regulations in force, and the overall direction of travel. The Department of Transport produced a policy paper which underlined the Prime Minister’s promises a year earlier in which it outlines the government’s intention of “seizing the opportunities of Brexit to ensure our regulatory system is agile and pro-innovation”.

Elsewhere the document says:

“Now that the UK has left the EU, we can rethink vehicle regulation. We have the freedom to create a system that meets the needs of manufacturers and consumers in the UK. In line with the commitment made in the government’s manifesto in 2019, we will reform vehicle standards, ensuring they are sensible and proportionate and take into consideration the needs of small businesses when devising new rules.”

 
– A vision for GB type approval, Dept of Transport, May 2024 

A year later, under Starmer, this is reversed and it’s all about the EU

 Contained in an official response from the Transport Department to what is known as the ‘Secondary Legislation Scrutiny Committee’ of the House of Commons are the following words:

“The Department recently wrote to manufacturers to reassure them that GB regulations will be maintained to be aligned with those in the EU to ensure vehicles can continue to be sold UK wide.” 

What this official statement fails to say is that previously GB regulations were just that – regulations devised in the UK for the UK – minus Northern Ireland which has been forced to become part of the EU for its products. The Department’s response goes on to say:

“The Department has made a commitment to an explicit presumption of alignment because this is in the interest of the UK in terms of breaking down barriers to trade with our largest trading partner, in a predominantly export focussed industry, and protecting the UK internal market. This provides manufacturers with certainty about the future development of the GB regulations and the Department’s intention to maintain alignment with the requirements in the EU while recognising that correct procedures for amending legislation must be followed, including consulting on all proposals for change.” 

The smoking gun – How this was discovered 

There has been no government announcement indicating that the UK is now aligning with EU regulations. This development came to light following concerns raised by Jim Allister MP, Leader of the TUV Party in Northern Ireland and then investigated by the fast-growing Stand for Our Sovereignty organisation.

Mr Allister raised concerns with the Secondary Legislation Scrutiny Committee regarding yet another Statutory Instrument – a type of executive measure passed by the government without the need for debate or a vote. In response to his submission, the Committee contacted the Department for Transport for its response on the matter. 

It was only in this little-read document uncovered by Stand for Our Sovereignty that the government’s policy of aligning with EU standards for the whole of the UK for the automotive industry was mentioned. 

Please act before it’s too late. The more we are, the louder our voice, and the more impossible to ignore

The sheer size of the automotive industry which is affected 

According to the industry body, the Society of Motor Manufacturers and Traders (SMMT), “Over 779,584 cars, 125,649 commercial vehicles and 1.58 million engines were built in the UK in 2024. Eight out of 10 cars produced in the UK are exported overseas to more than 140 markets worldwide.” 

The SMMT’s report for 2024 states: “Automotive-related manufacturing contributes £93 billion turnover and £22 billion value added to the UK economy, and typically invest around £4 billion each year in R&D. 

“With more than 198,000 people employed in manufacturing and some 813,000 in total across the wider automotive industry, we account for 12% of total UK export goods generating £47 billion of trade.”

How much could this cost consumers?

The difference in costs for manufacturers having to align with EU standards is of course difficult to estimate, but fortunately we do have the benefit of evidence given to the Northern Ireland Assembly by industry bodies there. Northern Ireland is part of the EU’s Single Market and therefore UK car manufacturers are forced to abide by EU regulations for all cars they sell in the Province. 

Representatives of the car industry in N.I. told the Assembly’s Committee that abiding by just three new sets of regulations would add £4,000 to the cost of a new vehicle. They went on to say that it would also be more expensive to tax. 

It is impossible to say how much Sir Keir Starmer’s new policy of permanent EU alignment will cost consumers if UK manufacturers have to make all new vehicles to EU specifications, but it seems clear that this will not come cheap. 

“As if the UK car industry has not been damaged enough by this government, Ministers now plan  to make the UK conform to EU rules.

“The industry has just slumped to a 70 year low in car output, hit by a high UK tax on selling too many petrol and diesel cars relative to unpopular  battery vehicles.

“Imposing EU regulations will impose further costs, distraction and complexity at a time when our overall exports are growing faster with the rest of the world.”

– The Rt Hon Sir John Redwood, speaking to Stand for Our Sovereignty, 28 July 2025

What about something called Brexit? 

As the Dept of Transport wrote only in May last year, the government aimed at “seizing the opportunities of Brexit to ensure our regulatory system is agile and pro-innovation”. It went on to say “Now that the UK has left the EU, we can rethink vehicle regulation. We have the freedom to create a system that meets the needs of manufacturers and consumers in the UK.” 

These freedoms, it seems, have now vanished, and all of this has been done with no mandate from the public. 

This is stark news of an entire industry now having to submit to EU regulations come hot in the heels of our report on the new Product Regulation and Metrology Act which received Royal Assent this month and creates what has been described as a ‘Statutory Instrument making machine’ for the purpose on imposing the same laws on Great Britain as apply in the EU and Northern Ireland as a result of the EU’s imposition of the Irish Sea border. On top of this we had the Product Marking Regulations, which were introduced under Sir Keir Starmer’s name using the familiar ‘Statutory Instrument’ to prevent debate and which require UK firms to place ‘Not for EU’ packaging on their products, even if they are only selling internally with GB.

Given these initial warnings, together with this major news about the automotive industry, it is now as clear as day that all the UK’s regulations are going to be forced to align to those of the EU, whatever the industry.

“We will never enjoy the full benefits of Brexit for Great Britain, let alone in Northern Ireland, until we come together”

The excuse being used by the Government for this reversal of Brexit is that GB must align with EU regulations because Northern Ireland has to. Their solution is for GB also to align and become subservient to the EU’s rules, whereas the correct solution is for Northern Ireland once again to be part of the United Kingdom and follow the UK’s independent rules and standards, designed to benefit the UK as a whole.

“Not one of the 17 million plus votes for Brexit was that Great Britain should leave the EU because that was not on option on the ballot paper. The question was should the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland leave the EU and over 17 million people, in the biggest democratic vote in our history, said yes. That vote has never been honoured because the current Brexit deal keeps part of the UK, Northern Ireland, effectively in the EU and the EU then use Northern Ireland, and the threat of divergence between NI and GB, to pressure GB to align with the EU as well.

“The only solution is for the whole UK to leave the EU so that rather than having a Northern Ireland Vehicle Approval Regime, determined by the EU, and a separate Great Britain Vehicle Approval Regime, which is then pressured to follow Northern Ireland to avoid divergence, we have a single UK Vehicle Approval Regime, set by the UK.

“By dividing the UK and keeping part of it in the EU, the EU effectively has the United Kingdom over a divergence barrel. We will never enjoy the full benefits of Brexit for Great Britain, let alone in Northern Ireland, until we come together and insist that the 27 states of the EU respect the territorial integrity of the UK.

“It is because of that imperative that just before recess I tabled a motion with eight other MPs proposing that the latest GB Vehicle Approval Regulations (the Road Vehicles (Type-Approval) (Amendment) Regulations 2025 (S.I. 2025, No. 661) be annulled. We have to call time on allowing the EU to divide us, making the laws for part of the UK and then using this to them set the laws for the whole UK.”

Article copyright Stand for Our Sovereignty 2025