The likelihood that Sir Keir Starmer would make early visits to Berlin and Paris as Prime Minister was a safe bet from the moment Labour won the general election. But the content and precise significance of the visits were not so easy to predict. Indeed, it is now clear that Sir Keir’s talks this week with the leaders of Germany and France have taken on even greater significance than anyone might have expected in July.
The so-called “reset” of Britain’s European relations was already announced in the Labour Party’s manifesto. It was never about reversing Brexit or joining the single market. These things were explicitly ruled out during the election. But it was certainly about mitigating Brexit. There was never any doubt that Labour would seek from outside the EU to deepen Britain’s relations with Europe in a number of areas, most notably security issues. Nor that most of Europe would be open to this.
The visit to Germany was an expression of this new approach. It was significant that Sir Keir went to Berlin first because the German economy, although in trouble, is still the largest in Europe. Germany is also playing a central role in the European response to the war in Ukraine. Both sides agreed to give priority to a new treaty on defence and economic relations, as well as to foreign policy cooperation and people-to-people contacts.
All this is desirable. It signals a long overdue and urgently needed new beginning in German-British relations. Since Britain already has many similar agreements with France, this is also the most striking part. A new trade agreement with the EU, negotiated with the European Commission and the member states, will be a more complex and time-consuming affair overall. Nevertheless, this too must come.
But the current significance of these visits is at least as political as it is diplomatic. Britain has just emerged from a traumatic period of racial unrest. As Sir Keir put it this week, it “revealed a deeply unhealthy society” that has been “infected by a spiral of populism”. The main catalyst for populists and rioters is migration, so the government must show that it is capable of making humane policies effective. This will require effective cooperation with Germany, the main destination country for European migrants, and with France, our closest neighbour, as well as with the rest of the EU.
Part of that – an important part – is getting a handle on the crossing of the Channel by asylum seekers in small boats. But there is a bigger problem. All three countries and many others face similar challenges. The stabbings in Solingen a week ago are disturbingly reminiscent of Southport. They have catapulted the issue of anti-migrant sentiment to the top of Chancellor Olaf Scholz’s political agenda, with state elections looming this weekend. In Paris, meanwhile, President Emmanuel Macron can bask in the success of the Olympics – and hopefully the Paralympics too. But he is about to be overwhelmed by his mishandling of the rise of French populism.
None of these national situations are identical. But they are all urgent. None of the governments, all at different stages of their respective electoral cycles but all on the centre-left, will be able to remove the populist sting alone. Only by working together can they do so. The three must lead a coordinated response and work together in a strategic and humane way. If Sir Keir’s visits have helped to give this task the priority it needs, they will have achieved much more than a reboot.