‘Reset’ is the buzzword of the first days of Keir Starmer’s new UK government. That means with the EU and the rest of the UK — Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland — with whom relationships have often been strained, particularly since the UK’s vote to leave the EU in 2016.
The result has been a flurry of activity by Starmer and his senior ministers since taking office on Friday (5 July) after Labour won a landslide election victory the night before.
Hours after being appointed foreign secretary on Friday afternoon, David Lammy met his German counterpart Annalena Baerbock on Saturday. The following day he visited Poland’s Radek Sikorski and Swedish foreign minister Tobias Billström.
Meanwhile, new defence secretary John Healey visited the Ukrainian capital Kyiv.
In an op-ed published in several European newspapers on 7 July, Lammy commented that “if we are to fulfil our ambitions for a reset, we must also improve Britain’s relationship with the European Union.”
“Let us put the Brexit years behind us,” said Lammy in comments directed at other European governments. “There is much we can do together.”
“I will be explaining to my new fellow foreign ministers how our new government’s proposal for an ambitious and broad-ranging UK-EU Security Pact would underpin closer cooperation between us, enshrining a new geopolitical partnership. I also look forward to hearing their ideas for how we can rebuild trust and reset the relationship between the UK and the EU,” he added.
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Benjamin Fox