Keir Starmer’s invitation to dinner in Brussels this week was “a big moment”, said The Guardian, marking the first informal UK-EU summit since Brexit.
Five years after leaving the bloc, Labour is “far more sympathetic” to Europe than its Conservative predecessors, and closer EU ties could be the key to reviving the UK’s “sluggish” economic growth.
But on the world stage Starmer is walking a “tricky tightrope” between Brussels and Washington. Donald Trump has threatened the EU with tariffs after imposing them on China at the weekend.
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There has been an ongoing “good vibes schtick” between the UK and the EU, and the UK and the US, said the BBC’s Chris Mason. But Starmer, a former Remain campaigner, now has “choices – or dilemmas” – on whether to lean towards Brussels or Washington. The PM insists it’s not an “either/or”, but under a “Brexit-loving, EU-hating” Trump, “something is likely to have to give”.
Starmer is using his reputation for “ruthless pragmatism” to make “steady (if slow) progress in forging a genuinely new relationship with Europe”, said The Independent.
The emerging “Starmer reset” is about offering “defence for trade”, framing the UK not as a “demandeur” of Brexit renegotiation but as a partner in a security-driven EU-UK relationship. Encouragingly, Europe seems “receptive”.
Yet there remains a “plodding cautiousness” in Starmer’s approach; he should be “bolder”, said The Economist. He still clings to Labour’s red lines: no single market, no customs union and no free movement, when he could “gain the upper hand by reframing Britain’s EU debate in terms of hard geopolitical interest”.
But with Europe facing political and economic challenges, “why would Sir Keir handcuff the UK to a failing bloc?”, asked The Telegraph. It is UK interests that “should matter most”.
What next?
For Starmer, perhaps the best tactic is “to deny there is a choice to be made” between Trump and the EU, “pursue parallel trade talks, and delay these decisions as long as possible”, said Ian Dunt for The i Paper.
“Trump is madness” and the PM’s focus should be all about managing that madness. “It is not inspiring. Of course it isn’t. But it is probably the only viable avenue open to him.”
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