Starmer stresses ‘urgency’ of closer defence ties with Europe at Munich conference
Keir Starmer said there was an urgent need for a closer UK defence relationship with Europe, covering procurement and manufacturing, so that the UK would be at the centre of a stronger European defence setup.In a rare visit to the Munich Security Conference, the British prime minister told the audience, to applause, “we are 10 years on from Brexit.We are not the Britain of the Brexit years.”Starmer argued that the long-term threat posed by Russia and the need for Europe to take greater responsibility for its own defence required the UK to integrate more closely on defence procurement with European allies.The UK and France, often the country regarded as the most resistant to non-EU states accessing the European defence market, are both keen to reopen talks about the UK joining Security Action for Europe, an EU rearmament scheme, after discussions stalled last year over the cost of entry for the UK.
France has insisted the high cost of the UK’s proposed membership of the scheme was not due to French pressure, but a result of European Commission calculations, in which France played no part.Starmer is also examining the case for a European Defence Mechanism, which would be an intergovernmental instrument open to all European democracies, whether inside or outside the EU.Members of the proposed institution would finance joint procurement and joint assets across Europe.The idea has been promoted by the Bruegel institute and more recently by the former UK foreign secretary David Miliband.Starmer called Europe “a sleeping giant”.
“Our economies dwarf Russia’s more than 10 times over.We have huge defence capabilities, yet too often this adds up to less than the sum of its parts.Fragmented industrial planning and procurement have led to gaps in some areas and massive duplication in others,” he said, adding that the situation was “wildly inefficient and it harms our collective security.Now, the US security umbrella has allowed these bad habits to develop, but now we must break them.”He added: “There is no British security without Europe and no European security without Britain.
That is the lesson of history and is today’s reality as well.So together, we must rise to this moment.We must spend more, deliver more and coordinate more.”The new normal was for Europe to take primary responsibility for its own conventional diplomacy, he said.“Rather than pretending that we can simply replace all US capabilities, we should focus on diversifying and decreasing some dependencies.
We should deliver generational investments that moves us from overdependence to interdependence.“We see the imperative, we see the urgency.We want to work together to lead a generational shift in defence industrial cooperation.”He said he realised there was politics and trade-offs in moving closer to the EU single market, but “the status quo is not fit for purpose, and to me there’s no question where the national interest lies”.He stressed that a closer UK-EU defence relationship did not imply any weakening of the UK-US relationship, or the strength of Nato.
He described Nato “as the most effective defence alliance we have ever known and we should never move away from it”, adding that the security and intelligence relationship with the US “was [as] tight as it had ever been”.Greater European defence autonomy did not herald a US withdrawal from Nato, he said.But Starmer added that European leadership needed to be more honest with their electorates about how the world had changed, and that the cost of defence would rise.He insisted he had emerged from his turbulent week in domestic UK politics stronger than at the start, saying that was a good place to be.In reference to the rising popularity of other parties in the UK, Starmer said: “the peddlers of easy answers are ready on the extremes of left and right and they will offer their solutions instead.
It’s striking that the different ends of the spectrum share so much.Soft on Russia, weak on Nato, if not outright opposed, and determined to sacrifice the relationships we need on the altar of their ideology.“The future they offer is one of division and then capitulation.The lamps would go out across Europe once again.”
Reform and Greens undermining UK commitment to Nato, Cooper says
The foreign secretary, Yvette Cooper, has accused Reform UK and the Green party of undermining Britain’s commitment to Nato.Cooper was speaking at the Munich Security Conference, where Keir Starmer used a speech at the weekend to claim that Labour’s populist rivals, Reform and the Greens, were “soft on Russia and weak on Nato”.“Our national security depends on us having partnerships abroad that make us strong and we have seen both Reform and the Greens undermine that commitment to the Nato alliance,” Cooper said in an interview with Sky News.In the case of Nigel Farage’s party, Cooper said this had led to Reform “not taking seriously the threat from Russia”.“They have refused to have an investigation into Russian interference in their own party despite the fact that their own Welsh leader was convicted of links to Russia,” she added, referring to the jailing of Nathan Gill, the former MEP and colleague of Farage, for taking bribes from a suspected Russian asset to repeat pro-Kremlin positions
Senior Reform UK figures attend launch of How to Launder Money book
As a choice for a book title, How to Launder Money certainly caught the eye. But then again, its co-author George Cottrell claims to know what he’s talking about.A close aide to Nigel Farage, Cottrell served several months in a US prison after being convicted there in 2017 for wire fraud – a chapter in his life he referred to at his book launch party on Thursday night.Farage was among the guests at the luxury hotel Raffles on Whitehall, along with many senior members of Reform UK, but for once the party’s leader was content to let the spotlight fall on Cottrell and his co-author Lawrence Burke Files.One attender said: “George did clarify: ‘There’s nothing in this book that will assist money launderers or criminals
Starmer stresses ‘urgency’ of closer defence ties with Europe at Munich conference
Keir Starmer said there was an urgent need for a closer UK defence relationship with Europe, covering procurement and manufacturing, so that the UK would be at the centre of a stronger European defence setup.In a rare visit to the Munich Security Conference, the British prime minister told the audience, to applause, “we are 10 years on from Brexit. We are not the Britain of the Brexit years.”Starmer argued that the long-term threat posed by Russia and the need for Europe to take greater responsibility for its own defence required the UK to integrate more closely on defence procurement with European allies.The UK and France, often the country regarded as the most resistant to non-EU states accessing the European defence market, are both keen to reopen talks about the UK joining Security Action for Europe, an EU rearmament scheme, after discussions stalled last year over the cost of entry for the UK
US lawmakers ask Mandelson to testify to Congress over Epstein relationship
Peter Mandelson has been asked to testify to the US Congress over his relationship with the convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein.Robert Garcia, ranking member of the committee on oversight and government reform, and congressman Suhas Subramanyam have written to Mandelson requesting he be questioned as part of the investigation into Epstein.The letter said: “While you no longer serve as British ambassador to the United States and have stepped down from the House of Lords, it is clear that you possessed extensive social and business ties to Jeffrey Epstein and hold critical information pertaining to our investigation of Epstein’s operations.“Given the appalling allegations regarding Epstein’s conduct, we request that you make yourself available for a transcribed interview with Committee staff regarding the crimes of Jeffrey Epstein and his co-conspirators.”In the letter, the members point out instances where Mandelson was photographed or mentioned in the 3
‘Handmaid’s Tale future’: Reform’s Matt Goodwin sparks outcry with fertility comments
Reform UK’s candidate in the Gorton and Denton byelection has been accused of wanting a “Handmaid’s Tale future” after unearthed YouTube footage revealed he called for “young girls and women” to be given a “biological reality” check.In a clip posted to his personal YouTube channel in November 2024, Matt Goodwin stated that “many women in Britain are having children much too late in life”.He said: “We need to also explain to young girls and women the biological reality of this crisis. Many women in Britain are having children much too late in life and they would prefer to have children much earlier on.”The comments, first reported by the Independent, have sparked a furious backlash, with one MP describing it as an “alt right fantasy” and an equality campaigner calling it “truly troubling”
Scottish Labour leader says he doesn’t regret calling for Starmer to quit – UK politics live
Anas Sarwar, the Scottish Labour leader, has said that he had a “reasonable” conversation with Keir Starmer yesterday, despite Sarwar having not retracted his call for the PM to quit.Sarwar said that he stood by what he said when he announced on Monday that he wanted Starmer to stand down.But he also said he was “looking to the future”, implying that he is not actively trying to orchestrate Starmer’s removal now.The news on Monday that Sarwar was going to say Starmer should go prompted intense speculation as to whether cabinet ministers would also declare he no longer had their confidence. But all members of the cabinet did subsequently issue statements backing Starmer, it became obvious that there would be no immediate leadership contest, and on Wednesday Sarwar indicated that he wanted to draw a line under the dispute
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