REBUILDING BRITAIN'S FUTURE IN EUROPE

What happened this week

Sir Keir Starmer is approaching his final days in office and is making no secret of his ambition to secure his legacy. At Monday’s ‘Coalition of the Willing’ summit in Paris, he was buoyed by glowing tributes from fellow leaders, including Emmanuel Macron and Volodymyr Zelensky. The Ukrainian president thanked the PM for his “constant, steadfast support,” while Mr Macron said he owed the prime minister a great deal.

Sir Keir’s trip to Paris also produced an agreement with the EU giving UK defence firms access to contracts funded through the bloc’s £78 billion Ukraine Support Loan initiative. The UK will also join Ukraine and nine other countries in building a shared missile-defence programme for Europe. And on his farewell tour, the PM signed a new trade deal with Switzerland: UK travellers will get faster passage through airports via e-gates for the first time, while a services mobility deal will let businesses provide services for up to 90 days without a work permit.

It is a strong way to end, and a reminder that Sir Keir’s Brexit ‘reset’ – after years of strained relations – was not for nothing. But there are notable gaps in the PM’s record that cannot be ignored, most significantly on free movement and defence, both seen as crucial priorities in Britain’s relationship with the bloc. A youth mobility scheme is nowhere to be seen, despite being repeatedly mentioned as under discussion with the EU. And on defence, the UK still does not have full participant status in the EU’s €150 billion Security Action for Europe (SAFE) defence loan scheme, after talks on full UK membership collapsed in late 2025, primarily over disagreements on Britain’s financial contribution.

If this week’s events show anything, it is that Sir Keir has left Britain’s relationship with its closest neighbours in a better place than he found it. But with EU-UK relations having reached an all-time low under the Tories, it is no surprise there is still a long way to go.

Millie Cooke, Political Correspondent

FROM OUR WRITERS

What it means

This week, Keir Starmer has been busy trying to shore up his legacy: concluding arrangements for the Coalition of the Willing on Ukraine, landing a trade deal with Switzerland, steering the Hillsborough Law through the Commons, and even preparing for a bank holiday should England win the World Cup.

However hard he tries to burnish his two years in Downing Street, history is likely to judge him harshly – not only for the abrupt end to his premiership, but because he failed to grapple with the defining issue of our time. In years to come, people will look back on the huge majority Sir Keir won in 2024 and wonder why he did so little with it to reverse the calamity of Brexit.

As another former PM, Sir John Major told The Independent, it is costing the UK £100bn a year in trade and £40bn annually in tax revenue. That is unsustainable.

While he has talked about ‘taking Britain into the heart of Europe’, Sir Keir has done anything but. He needlessly drew, and stuck to, red lines on not rejoining the EU, its single market or the customs union, tinkering instead at the margins. This is despite an excellent personal relationship with key figures including French President Emmanuel Macron, German Chancellors Olaf Scholz and, later, Friedrich Merz, and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen. He wasted his political capital when he had it.

Despite this, even the limited reset he envisioned has still not been fully agreed, and Britain has not managed to restore a youth mobility scheme.

At some point, a prime minister will have to grasp the nettle and start the journey back towards EU membership, hopefully sooner rather than later. But as Sir Keir prepares to hand over the keys to Downing Street, this will be yet another item left in the in-tray of his successor, Mr Burnham.

David Maddox, Political Editor

Geordie Greig, Editor-in-Chief

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What people are saying

Our readers had mixed opinions on Nick Clegg’s intervention on Brexit, which saw him compare the UK’s exit from the EU to a ‘punch in the face’ for Britain.

While there was broad agreement with the thrust of his argument, one reader suggested Sir Nick should take some responsibility for the rise in division since Brexit, given his role at social media giant Meta.

Clegg talks a lot of sense here in that Brexit has had an awful effect in this country on various levels, causing the kind of division I hoped we wouldn’t see again (part of the population has clearly learnt nothing from what went on in the 30s). But then social media has also had an awful effect on political debate over the last 15 years and he was Meta's ‘President of Global Affairs’ from 2022 to 2025. Very liberal opinions above, but would he prefer that we forget what his recent job was?

Antmanbee

Another reader expressed frustration at the delay in Sir Nick’s intervention – suggesting it should have come years ago. 

What surprises me is that a leader says that 10 years after Brexit. Such statements should have been made in early days. But it is not too late. This view should be made by all parties and not on party bases.

TotiCalling

Get in touch

What did you make of Clegg’s comments? Email europe@independent.co.uk. We’ll feature some of our favourite reader views and use your feedback to help shape future newsletters.

READ DEEPER

Nick Clegg: Brexit was a ‘punch in the face’ for Britain

Brexit was a “self-inflicted punch in the face” that has left Britain “poorer, weaker, less safe and less sovereign”, Sir Nick Clegg has said. 

In an interview with The Independent as part of our campaign, Sir Nick compared Brexit to a “massive cardiac arrest”.

More French border guards sent to UK to prevent summer holiday chaos from post-Brexit checks

More French border guards have been deployed to checkpoints in Britain to prevent long delays caused by new post-Brexit checks on travellers entering the European Union.

Transport Secretary Heidi Alexander brokered the agreement for the increased presence with her French counterpart Phillippe Tabarot, ahead of the summer holidays, insisting that ministers were “doing all we can to help travellers get through these new EU security checks as smoothly as possible".