Starmer: Britain’s ‘Brexit years’ are over and we need Europe, not Donald Trump
Sir Keir Starmer will tell world leaders on Saturday that Britain’s “Brexit years” are over as he calls for closer security ties with Europe and less reliance on Donald Trump’s US.
The prime minister will call on Europe to reduce its dependence on the United States and praise the continent as a “sleeping giant” capable of defeating its enemies with its economic and military might, after transatlantic tensions flared following the US president’s repeated threats to seize Greenland from Denmark.
After weathering the most turbulent week of his premiership so far, Sir Keir will also warn that turning inward, as Britain did during Brexit, would mean “surrendering” in a dangerous time.
The Prime Minister will make his remarks at the Munich Security Conference last year, where US vice-president JD Vance stunned delegates by accusing Europe of “retreating from some of its most fundamental values” and claimed that the biggest danger facing the continent was not Russia or China but “the threat from within”.
Since then, President Trump has sent shockwaves through Europe by threatening to seize Greenland and insulting various leaders. He also falsely accused European NATO allies, including the United Kingdom, of avoiding the front lines in the war in Afghanistan.
US Secretary of State Marco Rubio, who attended the meeting this year on behalf of the Trump administration, warned of a “new era” in geopolitics as he departed for Munich on Friday.
Sir Keir will say in his speech that he has laid out “a vision of European security and greater European autonomy that does not herald a US withdrawal, but fully responds to the call for greater burden-sharing and restores the ties that have served us so well.” But he will also praise the United States’ contribution to European security and say it will remain an important ally.
Sir Keir will describe Europe as a “sleeping giant”, saying: “Our economy dwarfs Russia’s by a factor of 10. We have huge defense capabilities.” But it will often warn that this is less than the sum of the parts, with gaps in some areas and “mass duplication” in others. And he will call on the continent to make the most of its defense capabilities, including closer cooperation on defense between the UK and the EU, to “build on our strengths and build a common European industrial base that can accelerate our defense production”.
Sir Keir’s speech came less than three months after talks about Britain joining the EU’s new €150bn (£130bn) Security Action for Europe rearmament fund broke down over financial disputes.
The Labor leader will also criticize Reform UK and the Green Party, describing them as “peddlers of easy answers on the far left and far right” and claiming that the future they offer will see “the lamps go out once again across Europe”, a reference to the chilling remark made by the then foreign secretary, Sir Edward Grey, in the run-up to the First World War.
Sir Keir will say: “It is remarkable how much the different ends of the spectrum share. Soft on Russia, weak on NATO – although not openly opposed. And they are determined to sacrifice the long-standing relationships we want and need to build on the altar of their ideology.”
“The future they offer consists of division and surrender. The lights will go out in Europe once again. But we will not allow this.”
On Friday, shortly after his arrival in Munich, Sir Keir held trilateral talks with Germany’s Friedrich Merz and France’s Emmanuel Macron, where he stressed the need for defense cooperation.
The Prime Minister said: “There is no security for the UK without the security of Europe. There is no security for Europe without the security of the UK. That’s why we must work together.”
World leaders gathering in Munich for the annual security conference are being greeted by a report that brutalises Mr Trump’s policies and warns that global security structures risk collapsing into rubble. Munich Security Report 2026, In the news titled “Under Destruction”, it is stated that the world has entered the period of “politics of destruction”.
“Comprehensive destruction rather than careful reforms and policy fixes is the agenda of the day,” he says. “The current US administration is the most prominent of those promising to liberate their country from the constraints of the current order and rebuild a stronger, more prosperous country. As a result, more than 80 years after construction began, the US-led post-1945 international order is now in ruins.”
Shadow foreign secretary Dame Priti Patel said: “Keir Starmer has a habit of ceding sovereignty and is now once again pitching for more EU integration and less control over the UK. Britain is uniquely placed to help bring the US and Europe together and ensure NATO is as strong as possible.”
“We shouldn’t be overly dependent on America, but we also shouldn’t, like Labour, offer Europe a blank check ready to accept any price. Starmer’s repeated capitulation to China shows he lacks the backbone to defend Britain on the international stage. His weakness has undermined the special relationship and endangered our country.”
