PM goes to Brussels as he eyes closer UK-EU co-operation

Sir Keir Starmer has made his first visit to Brussels since becoming prime minister.

His main message: to rebuild ties and trust with the EU after the bitter bickering of Brexit negotiations.

The moment was predictably rain-soaked but not insignificant.

Union flags were placed next to EU ones on press podiums. The red carpet at the European Parliament was washed down and hoovered ahead of Sir Keir’s arrival.

Ursula von der Leyen, the powerful president of the European Commission, gushed that his welcome was a warm one.

And the prime minister did not come empty-handed.

The wish list he brought here was long.

He called for closer co-operation on defence and security, including energy security, as well as on climate change, irregular migration, labelled 'illegal migration' under the previous Conservative government and on delivering economic growth - to help make Brexit work in the UK’s interest, he said.

He insisted the British public wanted a return to what he called sensible leadership when it came to the EU.

His European interlocutors nodded but without much evident enthusiasm.

The bloc still regrets losing the UK as a member. It bemoans the huge amount of time and political capital Brussels spent on Brexit negotiations.

It has little appetite for more protracted talks – and that was what was announced today - if the risk is high of going round in circles.

Working together better on security and defence is the most straightforward and uncontentious path of rapprochement.

Relations have steadily improved since Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine. The two sides worked rapidly and closely to impose sanctions on Moscow and boost Kiev’s defences. The UK leading the way on the latter.

One point of division amongst EU member states, though, is whether British businesses could or should be involved in the bloc’s rearmament drive.

On migration, there’s clear cross-Channel agreement that people-smuggling gangs must be stopped and irregular migration, tackled.

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