Keir Starmer announces new ‘closer EU partnership’ as he slams Brexit | Politics | News
Sir Keir Starmer insisted the Iran war showed Britain needed to be closer to the EU. The Prime Minister used the crisis to launch a new push to roll back Brexit at a Downing Street press conference this morning.
He said: “We will continue to defend Britain’s national interests and do what we need to do to steer our country calmly through this storm. However, as the world continues down this unstable path, it is increasingly clear that our long-term national interests require closer partnership with our European allies and the EU.”
He added: “As the Chancellor rightly points out, Brexit has caused profound damage to our economy and the opportunities to strengthen our security and reduce the cost of living are too great to ignore.”
Sir Keir continued: “We will be announcing a new summit with our EU partners in the coming weeks and I can tell you that at this summit the UK will not only confirm existing commitments made at last year’s summit.
“We want to be more assertive. Closer economic cooperation, closer security cooperation, a partnership that recognizes our common values, our common interests and our common future.
“A partnership for the dangerous world we must navigate together, a world in which this Government will always be guided by the interests of the British people.”
Sir Keir also defends NATO military alliance after US President Donald Trump threatened to withdraw.
He said: “First of all, NATO is the most effective military alliance the world has ever seen and has kept us safe for decades and we are fully committed to NATO.
“Second, whatever the pressure on myself and others, whatever the noise, I will act in Britain’s national interest in all the decisions I make.
“That’s why I’ve been absolutely clear that this is not our fight and we will not be dragged into it.
“But I am equally clear that we need to have closer ties with Europe when it comes to defence, security and our economic future. That’s why we held the summit last year.
“This year, as I just said, there will be another summit. There, we will improve the equipment we implemented last year, but we will also go further in terms of adaptation.”
