After the Trump rocked the continent with his threat to take Greenland, the prime minister praises Europe as a ‘sleeping giant’
Britain’s “Brexit years” are over, Sir Keir Starmer will tell world leaders on Saturday as he calls for closer security ties with Europe – and less reliance on Donald Trump’s United States.
After transatlantic tensions flared following the US president’s repeated threats to take Greenland from Denmark, the prime minister will call for Europe to curb its dependence on the US, while praising the continent as a “sleeping giant” whose economic and military might can defeat its enemies.
After surviving the most tumultuous week of his premiership so far, including an attempt to oust him from office, Sir Keir will also warn that turning inwards, as the UK did during Brexit, would amount to “surrender” in a perilous era.
That’s why I am saying, publish the report. Let everyone know that this was orchestrated as a measure to weaken and exploit Europe and let them back in under the old terms for our own good.
The only thing Russia did was give Britain a little nudge to get them over the finish line. The “Europe question” has been circulating in the UK politics longer than UK has been in the EU and IMO it’s been circulating because of British exceptionalism.
When the ECSC was formed UK decided to stay out because UK thought it was still a global superpower. When the ECSC became EEC Britain still decided to stay away. The UK didn’t join the EEC until it became apparent that the UK was lagging behind the EEC. And then literally 2 years after joining the EEC, in 1975, Britain held effectively brexit 1.0 referendum, which obviously didn’t pass. Then in 80s labour ran on a campaign to leave the EEC. Then in the 90s when the EEC became the EU Britain opted out from integrations. Since the EU became a real thing UK has been consistently one of the most eurosceptic countries in the EU.
Even if such a report was published it wouldn’t excuse the decades of anti-EU sentiment. Nor would it guarantee the UK wouldn’t do it again, after all they’ve had 2 attempts at it
And even if the EU was so naive to believe such a report would be enough, there’s no chance the UK comes back with all its privileges. The budget rebate is clearly against the interest of the EU. The others are less egregious but they’re essentially opt outs of integrating with the EU so demanding those back is IMO contradictory to wanting to rejoin the EU. They shouldn’t get those back, so that leaving would become such a headache they wouldn’t try a third time.