European Political Community: Starmer (United Kingdom) welcomes the 47 leaders and moves up a gear about Europe

“We want to work with all of you to reset relationships, rediscover our common interest and renew the bonds of trust and friendship that brighten the fabric of European Life. The United Kingdom and Europe can be excellent partners”. The tone of the speech with which the new British Prime Minister Keir Starmer welcomed the 47 leaders of the European Political Community to Blenheim Palace, Churchill’s birthplace, is suggestive of a deep change in the British Government’s approach to Europe. Actually, Starmer pledged to dismiss the controversial plan for the deportation of asylum seekers to Rwanda and not to turn his back on the European Court of Human Rights, with which his Tory predecessor Rishi Sunak had harshly argued. “This summit is an opportunity to set a new path on illegal migration”, the Prime Minister went on, “and our new border security taskforce will closely cooperate with you”. It is precisely the discussions on how to share information more closely and which resources to invest into fighting the gangs that control migrant smuggling that this afternoon’s meetings at the Blenheim Palace summit will be focussed upon. The United Kingdom is mainly interested in stopping the small boats that land on the coasts of the Channel. According to British media, however, the British Prime Minister’s words suggest he is now willing to cooperate with the EU in other areas as well, such as student exchange programmes.
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