UK’s Starmer calls for European cooperation to tackle far right

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer expressed concern at the growing threat from far-right groups in the United Kingdom and called on progressive political parties across Europe to work together to deal with the shared challenge.

Britain was hit by anti-immigrant riots earlier this month after a deadly knife attack on a children's dance class was followed by false claims, amplified by people on the far right, that the attacker was a Muslim asylum seeker.

Speaking on Wednesday (28 August) on a visit to Germany, where the anti-immigration Alternative for Germany has reported a surge in membership, Starmer said populism would be defeated by making people feel better off and promised that life in Britain would improve before the end of his first term in power.

"We should be alive in the UK to the challenge of the far right and populism and nationalism," he told reporters. "There are a number of reasons for my concern, partly what's happening in the UK, partly what you can see happening in other European countries, including in France and in Germany."

Starmer's centre-left Labour Party won a landslide election victory in early July, in contrast to recent gains by the far right in Europe. But the anti-immigration riots have already created his first major crisis.

British police have arrested more than 1,160 people over the rioting that involved violence, arson and looting, as well as racist attacks targeting Muslims and migrants.

Starmer pledged to tackle the far-right and the "snake oil of populism and nationalism," saying he would be honest about the country's problems and how to solve them.

But that task has been made more difficult as it comes against a backdrop of a cost of living crisis and deteriorating public services.

On Tuesday, Starmer warned that his government's budget statement in October would be "painful" and asked people to accept "short-term pain for long-term good".

He told reporters on a trip aimed at rebuilding Britain's fractured relationships with one of its European allies that it was a "tough message" to deliver, but necessary.

Reset of ties

Starmer and Scholz agreed on Wednesday to work on an ambitious treaty covering issues from defence to trade that would be part of a reset of British relations with the European Union.

Starmer billed the new cooperation treaty as a "once-in-a-generation chance to deliver for working people in Britain and in Germany" as it would deepen collaboration in science, technology, business and culture while increasing trade.

He said that growth was his government's "number one mission".

"And what we understand clearly is that building relationships with our partners here in Germany and across Europe is vital to achieving it," Starmer said.

He said a reset would not mean reversing Britain's 2020 exit from the EU under the Conservatives, or re-entering the bloc's single market or customs union.

"But it does mean a closer relationship on a number of fronts, including the economy, including defence, including exchanges," he said.

Scholz said Germany wanted to take this outstretched hand.

In a joint declaration, Britain and Germany said they hoped to sign the cooperation treaty at government consultations "by early next year". Defence ministers were also working on a new defence agreement, they said, which would follow the signing of a joint defence declaration in July.

(Edited by Georgi Gotev)