Keir Starmer’s plan to reset the UK’s post-Brexit relationship with the European Union has suffered a blow with the loss of a key ally.
French prime minister Michel Barnier lost a no-confidence motion after he pushed a controversial budget through without a vote.
Mr Barnier will have to tender his resignation and that of his government to President Emmanuel Macron, making the politician, who was in post for less than three months, the shortest serving French PM in modern times.
That would mark a setback for Sir Keir, who has worked with Mr Barnier since his time as the EU’s chief Brexit negotiator in the years after the UK voted to leave the bloc.
Sir Keir, then on Labour’s opposition frontbench, met Mr Barnier several times to discuss the possibility of a “bespoke” form of customs union as part of a Brexit deal.
The Labour leader has promised that he will fix Britain’s damaged relations with the EU for the benefit of “generations to come”.
But his task has become harder in recent weeks with the prospect of Donald Trump’s imminent return to the White House.
Allies of the President-Elect have made clear they believe the UK will have to choose between the prospect of a free trade deal with the US or closer ties to the EU.
Sir Keir has rejected that, saying it is “wrong” to claim the UK will have to pick between two of its main allies, but the UK government is braced for further pressure from Washington on the issue.
Mr Barnier has talked tough before the no confidence vote, suggesting he could stay in power and warning of the dangers of bringing down the government.
But the far-right National Rally (RN) chief Jordan Bardella said that his optimism showed that the government was "completely out of touch with what is happening in the country".
The loss of Mr Barnier comes just weeks after the government of another key ally in Europe, Olaf Scholz, collapsed.
The German chancellor is now widely expected to lose the looming general election, which has been scheduled for early next year.
In better news for the prime minister, it appears that another ally – Ireland’s Simon Harris – looks will enter coalition talks to remain in government after his country’s general election last week.
