Sovereignty too hot to handle? Opposition to Starmer’s new EU control wilted to just four votes
MPs and Peers surrender control to EU in the dead of night – the full story
Montage © Facts4EU.Org 2025
Where was the Official Opposition? Off sipping a cold drink, perhaps?
In one of the most extraordinary evenings in recent parliamentary history, MPs and peers agreed to let a minister control part of the country’s business according to a post-Brexit EU regulation. They did so without proper scrutiny - and with no debate in the Commons before the vote was rushed through.
Around 8pm on Monday, the Commons voted by 315 to 4 to approve the Marking of Retail Goods Regulations 2025, a measure imposing EU-derived labelling requirements across Great Britain, as well as in Northern Ireland.
Just hours later, the House of Lords debated and approved the same measure, with 9 peers - all from Northern Ireland - the only ones to say No.
“The feeble regulations before us today—and I really do think they are feeble - seek to address the threat to Northern Ireland’s supply chain.
They do so not by calling out the central injustice arising from the attempt by the European Union to disturb the integrity of a sovereign state in violation of international law by means of cutting it into two, through the imposition of a customs and international SPS border, and not by pointing out the central absurdity that the provision of “Not for EU” labels makes zero contribution to protecting the integrity of the EU single market and instead involves the UK having to engage in an act of national of self-harm by embracing needless additional packaging costs in relation to Northern Ireland that threaten our own supply chains.
They do it by seeking to accommodate and make space for this injustice and absurdity.”
- Baroness Kate Hoey, House of Lords, 30 June 2025
As temperatures soared in London, it appeared that Westminster found sovereignty simply too hot to handle.
Brexit Facts4EU.Org Summary
What You Need to Know
- In effect an EU regulation, not a UK one: MPs voted to adopt an EU Regulation passed after the UK left.
- Regulation 2023/1231 was passed in Brussels in December 2023 - years after Brexit.
- Enforced in Britain: British companies will now face mandatory “Not for EU” labelling even for goods never leaving Great Britain.
- Political failure: No MP from any GB party voted against.
- The Commons passed the measure 315 to 4, with no GB party voting No.
- The Lords debated it the same night - only NI peers opposed.
- Public anger: This was the most-read Facts4EU topic of the past 12 months, engaging over 100,000 voters.
- Media silence: Few mainstream outlets even mentioned it, with the sole exception of GB News.
- Costs to business: DEFRA’s Impact Assessment shows costs to GB businesses could exceed £0.8 billion over 10 years, excluding unquantified export impacts.
- Businesses overwhelmingly opposed the plan.
Why does this matter?
This was the first time since Brexit that the EU has effectively legislated directly over the UK’s internal market. The measure passed with Labour, Lib Dem, and smaller party support - and no recorded opposition from Conservative or Reform UK MPs, who simply did not vote.
While DEFRA insists the labelling is “just an administrative change,” the reality is that it is a constitutional precedent: an EU Regulation applied to Great Britain itself, with no reciprocal benefit.
“When sovereignty can be signed away in an evening vote with no floor debate and almost no opposition, something is deeply wrong with our politics.”
- Leigh Evans, Chairman, Stand for Our Sovereignty, 01 July 2025
Who voted for sovereignty and who didn’t – We name and shame
1. House of Commons vote – with NO debate
- Ayes: 287 Labour, 19 Lib Dem, 7 Independent, 1 Alliance
- Noes: All Northern Ireland MPs - DUP and Independent Unionist
- Conservative MPs: None voted No
MPs Recorded as Voting No - and FOR sovereignty:
- Gregory Campbell (DUP)
- Carla Lockhart (DUP)
- Jim Shannon (DUP)
- Alex Easton (Independent Unionist)
Note on tellers:
Under Commons procedure, tellers are not included in the division total, even though they must be MPs supporting that side. For this division, Mr Jim Allister (TUV) and Mr Sammy Wilson (DUP) acted as tellers for the Noes. This means their votes were not counted in the official four No votes.
2. House of Lords debate and vote
- Ayes: Labour, Lib Dem, and 3 Conservative peers
- Noes: 9 peers - all from Northern Ireland: DUP, UUP, and Baroness Hoey (Ind)
This remarkable consensus among GB parties stood in stark contrast to the thousands of voters who expressed concern over the weekend.
DEFRA’s ‘Impact Assessment’ states costs for business could exceed £0.8 billion
The Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs is required to assess the impact of any such measure. Their report makes uncomfortable reading. The document is littered with caveats and disclaimers, yet it still concluded that businesses could face costs up to £800 million in present-day terms, with nearly £100m hitting in Year One alone.
- Total estimated cost to businesses: as much as £0.8 billion in today’s terms over 10 years.
- First-year burden alone: Nearly £100 million in the worst case.
- Costs to exporters: Not even calculated.
Excerpts from DEFRA’s Impact Assessment:
“Not-for-EU labelling requirements create a regulatory barrier between UK and EU markets…”
“… it may require businesses to duplicate product lines…
“For some, this may be unprofitable… leading to increased risk of products being delisted.”
“There are simply too many unknowns.”
“Significant evidence gaps remain.”
Reading the report, it seems that officials themselves had little confidence in their cost predictions. Businesses warned that duplicating product lines could mean fewer products in shops and higher prices for consumers.
Yet MPs and peers pushed ahead and the legislation was nodded through regardless.
Business overwhelmingly opposed
DEFRA’s own consultation, carried out between February and March 2024, showed near-universal opposition among food manufacturers.
Survey Question:
“To what extent do you expect the proposed labelling changes to impact the volume of goods or services you provide to Great Britain?”
Response : %
No change : 38%
Decrease : 61%
Increase : 1%
And yet, the House of Commons waved this through with no floor debate. In the House of Lords there was at least a debate allowed. Here are a few notable excerpts from those Peers who were opposed and who stood for our sovereignty.
“This is not only a breach of the commitment in the Safeguarding the Union Command Paper; it is ineffective in what it does and what it purports to achieve. As the noble Baroness, Lady Hoey, said, people come up from the south all the time and buy their goods, fruit and veg, and meat and dairy products in Northern Ireland’s supermarkets and carry them back down south and there is not a word about it. The EU knows this; the UK Government know it; everybody knows it. What is the point of the labels in any case?
“In fact, it is so ludicrous that Asda, a major grocery firm, has to apply all these labels—at pain of being penalised with hefty fines if it does not—and it does not even have supermarkets in the Irish Republic. It can sell only in Northern Ireland and the rest of the UK, and yet it is forced to have all this labelling, regulation, and compliance checks, with lorries being turned back—as we heard in our evidence at Stormont from one of its representatives—even though it cannot sell outside Northern Ireland. People may come up from the south, but Asda does not actively sell in the Republic.”
- Lord Nigel Dodds, House of Lords, 30 June 2025
Public engagement on a scale rarely seen
Over recent days, more than 100,000 people engaged with Facts4EU.Org and SovereignUK.Org coverage, sharing articles, emailing MPs, and making calls. In the 10th year since Facts4EU launched, no topic has prompted more activity in such a short time.
Voters cared. Westminster did not.
“We have been talking about the labels. Labels cost money; it costs money to change the production lines. That can end up only with an increase to the customer who is buying the goods—nobody else is going to pay it. Look at the amount of money that has been put into this whole performance: £200 million to erect border inspection posts, and hundreds of millions of pounds on the trader scheme, and that is only going round the edges of it.”
“I have to say to the Minister seriously: she must realise just how preposterous all this is. We have heard about the situation regarding supermarkets. Sainsbury’s are in the same boat, and it does not have any stores in the Republic—a big supermarket like that. People come across. If you look at the car parks in Strabane, in Enniskillen or in Newry, you see that they are thronged with people from the Republic. This has been going on for years, and they are taking their toxic baked beans back to County Louth to cause enormous damage. The ripples will flow right across the European Union, rattling the cages. It is all absolute and complete nonsense; it is costing a lot of money; and it is, potentially, leaving a serious political situation behind it.”
- Lord Empey, House of Lords, 30 June 2025
Is Parliament really this out of touch?
While MPs sat in the chamber, with no debate allowed by the Government, and/or waited outside for the vote, and most peers waved this through later in the evening, the public has already made their view clear: Britain’s sovereignty matters.
Reform UK MPs indicated they would oppose, yet none were recorded voting No. The Conservative leadership took no position, leaving their MPs to abstain. Not a single GB party stood up.
Meanwhile, Northern Ireland’s MPs and peers were left carrying the torch for democratic accountability - alone.
“When officials themselves admit they can’t predict the damage, the responsible course is to pause and reconsider. Instead, Westminster nodded it through.”
- Jim Allister KC MP (TUV), commenting to Stand for Our Sovereignty, 01 July 2025
What happens next?
This is not the end. The new labelling regime will start today. More regulations - many also derived from EU laws - are in the pipeline.
If you believe sovereignty is worth defending, stay engaged. Because if this can happen with so little scrutiny, it can happen again. And again.
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Observations
If ever a Statutory Instrument deserved proper debate and scrutiny, this was it. Instead, it was “Business Without Debate” in the House of Commons.
Sir Keir may be satisfied today, but less so when he next has to face the voters.
Please, please help us to carry on our vital work in defence of independence, sovereignty, democracy and freedom by donating today. Thank you.
[ Sources: Hansard | Parliament TV | Sir Bill Cash ] Politicians and journalists can contact us for details, as ever.
Brexit Facts4EU.Org, Tues 01 July 2025
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