Can Keir Starmer really 'reset' the UK's relationship with the EU?
Prime Minister Kier Starmer has spoken to the European political community at Blenheim Palace.
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In brief...
- Keir Starmer hosted the European Summit at Blenheim Palace with leaders like Emmanuel Macron and Volodymyr Zelensky.
- Key issues such as the UK-EU relationship, Russia's invasion of Ukraine, and illegal migration were discussed.
- Starmer called for a "reset" in UK-EU relations, aiming for stronger cooperation without rejoining the customs union or single market, and highlighted the importance of mutual prosperity and security.
You could say that every day since 5 July has been a big one for Keir Starmer, but today (18 July) was an especially notable one.
He hosted world leaders, including Emmanuel Macron, Georgia Meloni, Volodymyr Zelensky and more for the European Summit at Blenheim Palace in Oxford, the birthplace of Winston Churchill.
There, they discussed the pressing issues that Europe is currently facing, with a focus on "resetting" the UK's relationship with the EU, Russia's invasion of Ukraine and tackling illegal migration.
Below, we take a closer look at some of the things that were discussed.
On 'reseting' the UK's relationship with the EU
You may have noticed the buzzword of the moment is "reset". That's what Keir Starmer said the UK's relationship with the EU needs in his speech to EU leaders.
"We will strengthen our existing relationships, and we will build new ones. This includes resetting our relationship with the EU," the Prime Minister said.
"I believe that the UK and the EU, working together as sovereign partners are a powerful force for good across our continent for peace, for security, for prosperity for all our people."
With the tumultuous years of Brexit behind us, what does a "reset" actually look like in practice?
Jon's not convinced that anyone knows.
"What the reset actually means in concrete terms is hard to fathom at the moment," he says on the podcast.
"We're not going back inside the customs union. We're not going back inside the single market. There is not going to be the reintroduction of free movement of goods, people and services. So what is it exactly? My guess is they want to get as close to all of those things without there being the institutional endorsement of it."
But with a landslide general election win behind him, Lewis argues Starmer likely feels he has the "political space" to talk of close relations with the EU.
"Downing Street, I think would say that this is sort of stage one, where there's a lot of vibes. There's a lot of atmosphere," Lewis points out.
"Starmer doesn't know most of these people, and so establishing a kind of tone of amity, of friendship, and of using that word again – reset – allows you to get to a stage two and stage three, which is a set of renegotiations and then actually delivering them."
So while Starmer might need cooperation with the EU to crack down on the criminal gangs facilitating illegal migration and reduce bureaucracy and barriers to trade between the EU and UK, Jon notes that he will have to step carefully.
"I think one of the spaces we are in now, in our politics today, is that it's very hard to introduce policy, even if you think it's right, if public opinion isn't with you, because the backlash is so strong"
But even if Starmer had the public on-side, the difficult dynamic Theresa May, Boris Johnson and Rishi Sunak all had to deal with, remains.
The EU, Lewis says, will "not to allow the UK to have a deal which in some way shows that you can have some of the benefits of EU membership without actually being an EU member".
On migration
In his speech, Keir Starmer said his new Labour government is focused on implementing solutions on migration that will "deliver results" but also seek to do so with "humanity and a profound respect for international law", adding that this was the key reason for scrapping the Tories Rwanda deportation scheme, which he referred to as a "gimmick".
"I think the thing that Keir Starmer is most keen to get something on is immigration," Jon says of the summit.
Discussing what concrete things might come out of the event, Jon wonders if, although the Rwanda scheme is dead, maybe an alternative plan could be born.
"Maybe not a Rwanda scheme. But what the Italians are doing with Albania, where some of the migrants are taken to Albania while the processing takes place over whether they are a legitimate asylum seekers. I wonder whether that is something that we might see.
"I wonder whether it's not going to be Rwanda, but it's not going to be nothing either".
Elsewhere in his speech, Starmer also called for the assembled countries to "guard Europe's frontiers" from Russia.
President Zelensky called for Europe to become "closer", and for a "collective will" to shoot down Russian planes and drones, saying Putin has "sacrificed" tens of thousands of Russian people to achieve "nothing significant".