Starmer Urges Closer UK-Europe Ties as US Role Shifts
In his first major speech since leaving No 10, Keir Starmer said Europe must take on more of its own defence and that the change in US policy is permanent.
Keir Starmer says the UK and other European countries must move closer together because the United States is becoming a less reliable partner. It is his first significant political intervention since he left No 10.
Speaking to the British Irish Chamber of Commerce on Friday, the former prime minister said the shift in relations with Washington under Donald Trump is unlikely to reverse when Trump leaves the Oval Office. "This is about responding to a permanent change of affairs, not an aberration of the Trump presidency," he said. "Things will not go back to the way they were before."
He did not write off the American link. The military, security and intelligence alliance is "far too strong" for that, Starmer said. But Europe, in his words, has to take on far more responsibility for its own defence.
"Caught asleep" twice
Starmer said Europe had been "caught asleep" twice, failing to prepare for predictable events. The first was Russia's attack on Ukraine, which exposed long-standing weaknesses in European defence. The second was Trump making clear that the US will no longer bankroll European security. "We have to catch up," he said.
He called for pan-European coordination on defence and security, "a common security framework as much as a common market". The EU is changing to meet that need, he said, but cannot act alone when the edges of Europe are central to its defence. Britain, he argued, must be at the centre of the effort. He pointed to the UK's status as one of two European nuclear powers, its place as a leading Nato member and a next-generation fighter jet programme. He added that the UK is pledged to work with allies to guarantee security in Ukraine.
Starmer said the ties should reach beyond defence. Brexit had done "deep damage" to the UK economy, he said, and he wants to be "more ambitious", including "closer economic cooperation" as well as closer security cooperation.
The speech followed a visit to Dublin, where he met business leaders and politicians, among them the taoiseach, Micheál Martin. The two set up the annual UK-Ireland summit. Starmer said Ireland and the UK stand side by side in the coalition of the willing and with Ukraine.
He had pushed for closer European ties before stepping down as prime minister in July. Three months earlier, amid Trump's war with Iran and threats to withdraw from Nato, he described Europe as a "partnership for a dangerous world we must navigate together".
His successor, Andy Burnham, said soon after taking office that he intended to be "bolder" about closer ties with the EU. Burnham will attend an EU-UK summit next month, where new agreements on food standards, energy and youth mobility are the main focus. He has also said he wants a public debate on a closer relationship with the EU after the next election. This week, defence secretary Wes Streeting told a meeting of European defence ministers in Paris that they were "united and unwavering" in support for Ukraine.
Source: the Guardian