Starmer bills closer ties with EU amid Trump row

Sir Keir Starmer has mooted building closer ties on various sectors of the economy with the European Union after President Trump suggested he was considering pulling the US out of Nato. 

In a press conference on Wednesday, Starmer billed strengthening ties with the EU at an upcoming summit as part of a wider push to ease the cost of living for Brits. 

He announced that foreign secretary Yvette Cooper would host leaders from European and Gulf countries in a meeting to discuss security for shipping in the Strait of Hormuz, adding that any task to re-open crucial trading routes “will not be easy”. 

The Prime Minister said the UK was offering “clear and calm leadership” through diplomacy during the conflict as he moved on to talk up the prospect of undoing parts of Brexit, which he said did “deep damage” to the economy. 

“The UK will not just ratify existing commitments made at last year’s summit,” he said. 

“We want to be more ambitious.

“Opportunities to strengthen our economy, and the opportunities to strengthen our security and cut the cost of living, are simply too big to ignore.”

“We have to go beyond just a numbers game.”

He also argued that building closer ties with the EU could lead to improved relations with the US.

“Successive presidents have said that Europe needs to do more on their defence and security. I have long argued that we should be doing more. That is not just on defence spending. It is also on how we spend, how we collaborate and co-operate.”

Starmer: Trump is putting ‘pressure’ on me

Starmer’s address on his government’s action was partly overshadowed by a report in The Telegraph that quoted President Trump’s new threat against Nato. 

He told the newspaper that he was considering pulling out of Nato, labelling it a “paper tiger”. 

“And Putin knows that too, by the way,” he said. 

Starmer slapped down a question about Trump’s comments: “Whatever the pressure on me and others – whatever the noise –  I am going to act in the British national interest in the decisions I make.”

He stuck to his message focusing on the government’s effort to ease the cost of living for families as he talked up energy bill measures and benefits changes from the Budget which come into effect this week. 

Rachel Reeves said that the government’s “targeted” support would be based on household income rather than a catch-all. 

It would represent a different path to one taken by the previous Conservative government, which subsidised government bills at a cost of £40bn after gas price shock from Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine. 

“I want to learn the lessons of the past because when Russia invaded Ukraine, the richest, the best-off third of households got more than a third of the support. That makes no sense at all,” the Chancellor said.

“We’re looking at ways in which we can support people based on their household income.”

Reeves did not say how much the scheme would cost and suggested that any support would only be introduced in the autumn.

An energy consultancy suggested that the Ofgem energy price cap will leap by 18 per cent after June in bills that would be frozen until September. 

The household energy price cap coming into effect from today and lasting until July will remain unaffected by changes seen in international markets. 

Opposition parties have urged the government to take a stronger stance, with Reform UK’s finance spokesman Robert Jenrick suggesting that people were “suffering” now.