Europe can no longer rely on US to 'bankroll' its defence, Starmer says

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Sir Keir Starmer was speaking at a dinner of the the British Irish Chamber of Commerce in Dublin

Sir Keir Starmer has said Europe should build a common security framework, warning the change in its defence relationship with the US is permanent rather than “an aberration of the Trump presidency”.

The former prime minister was speaking at a British Irish Chamber of Commerce (BICC) dinner in Dublin, external on Friday evening.

Sir Keir said a “common security framework” for Europe was needed as much as a common market, with the UK at its centre.

He warned that “things will not go back to the way they were,” adding that the US had made clear it will no longer “bankroll” its European allies.

He told the crowd in Dublin City Hall his comments did not mean “the US relationship is no longer important,” as reported by the Press Association.

Rather he said the UK-USA military, security and intelligence alliance was “far too strong for that”.

But he said Europe must be enabled to “take on far more responsibility for its own defence and security”.

“Europe has twice been caught asleep – failing to anticipate and prepare for predictable events,” he said.

“First when Russia’s attack on Ukraine exposed long-standing European weaknesses on defence and security; and second when President Trump made clear, once and for all, that the US will no longer bankroll our European security. We have to catch up,” he added.

He added: “I will say here what I have said to European leaders. This is about responding to a permanent change of affairs, not an aberration of the Trump presidency. Things will not go back to the way they were before.

Sir Keir was at the dinner to be awarded an honorary life membership from the BICC.

Image source, Getty Images

Sir Keir Starmer and Donald Trump at a press conference in the White House

Sir Keir said increased defence spending was part of the picture, but that the challenge “goes far beyond that.”

“We need to build up pan-European co-operation and co-ordination on defence and security – a common security framework as much as a common market,” he said.

“The EU is changing to respond to that,” he said, warning that it “cannot be the EU alone when Europe’s periphery is core to its defence.”

The pair developed a positive relationship in their opening months of working together, which Sir Keir’s team highlighted at the time as one of the biggest successes of his premiership.

But Trump later mocked Sir Keir as being “no Winston Churchill” in a row over the refusal to permit the use of UK bases for the initial US-Israel strikes on Iran, and the repeated his criticism of the UK’s response to the conflict.

Sir Keir, asked whether Trump had wished him well as he prepared to leave Downing Street, said: “Yes he did, and we’re going to stay in touch.”

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