The likelihood that Sir Keir Starmer would make early prime ministerial visits to Berlin and Paris could have been confidently predicted from the moment that Labour won the general election. But the content and precise significance of the visits was less easily foreseen. In the event, it is now clear that Sir Keir’s talks this week with the leaders of Germany and France have taken on an even greater importance than could have been expected in July.
The so-called “reset” of Britain’s European relationships was signalled in Labour’s manifesto. It was never going to be about reversing Brexit or joining the single market. Those things were explicitly ruled out during the election. But it was certainly about softening Brexit. There was never any doubt that, from outside the EU, Labour would seek to deepen Britain’s ties with Europe in several fields, notably security. Nor that most of Europe would be open to this happening.
