Will Keir Starmer have to choose between the EU and the US?

Keir Starmer is walking a 'tricky tightrope' in trying to keep both the EU and the US happy

(Image credit: Olivier Hoslet / WPA Pool / Getty Images)

published 6 February 2025

Keir Starmer's invitation to dinner in Brussels this week was "a big moment", said The Guardian, marking the first informal UK-EU summit since Brexit.

Five years after leaving the bloc, Labour is "far more sympathetic" to Europe than its Conservative predecessors, and closer EU ties could be the key to reviving the UK's "sluggish" economic growth.

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What did the commentators say?

There has been an ongoing "good vibes schtick" between the UK and the EU, and the UK and the US, said the BBC's Chris Mason. But Starmer, a former Remain campaigner, now has "choices – or dilemmas" – on whether to lean towards Brussels or Washington. The PM insists it's not an "either/or", but under a "Brexit-loving, EU-hating" Trump, "something is likely to have to give".

Starmer is using his reputation for "ruthless pragmatism" to make "steady (if slow) progress in forging a genuinely new relationship with Europe", said The Independent.

The emerging "Starmer reset" is about offering "defence for trade", framing the UK not as a "demandeur" of Brexit renegotiation but as a partner in a security-driven EU-UK relationship. Encouragingly, Europe seems "receptive".

Yet there remains a "plodding cautiousness" in Starmer's approach; he should be "bolder", said The Economist. He still clings to Labour's red lines: no single market, no customs union and no free movement, when he could "gain the upper hand by reframing Britain's EU debate in terms of hard geopolitical interest".

But with Europe facing political and economic challenges, "why would Sir Keir handcuff the UK to a failing bloc?", asked The Telegraph. It is UK interests that "should matter most".

What next?

For Starmer, perhaps the best tactic is "to deny there is a choice to be made" between Trump and the EU, "pursue parallel trade talks, and delay these decisions as long as possible", said Ian Dunt for The i Paper.

"Trump is madness" and the PM's focus should be all about managing that madness. "It is not inspiring. Of course it isn’t. But it is probably the only viable avenue open to him."

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Sorcha Bradley is a writer at The Week and a regular on “The Week Unwrapped” podcast. She worked at The Week magazine for a year and a half before taking up her current role with the digital team, where she mostly covers UK current affairs and politics. Before joining The Week, Sorcha worked at slow-news start-up Tortoise Media. She has also written for Sky News, The Sunday Times, the London Evening Standard and Grazia magazine, among other publications. She has a master’s in newspaper journalism from City, University of London, where she specialised in political journalism.