Keir Starmer has urged the United Kingdom and other European countries to strengthen their ties in response to what he described as a changing and less dependable relationship with the United States.
In his first significant political intervention since leaving Downing Street, the former prime minister told European leaders they face an evolving strategic landscape and must adapt by drawing closer together. He singled out the threat posed by Russia among the challenges confronting the continent.
Starmer said the changes in Washington's approach under Donald Trump are unlikely to be fully reversed when Trump departs the Oval Office, and warned that this new reality requires a recalibration of European security and diplomatic arrangements. He said European governments have already been taken by surprise by these shifts on two occasions.
The intervention, framed as a direct appeal to European capitals, called for renewed cooperation between the UK and its neighbours to manage shared risks. Starmer framed the appeal around the need for practical alignment in the face of geopolitical uncertainty rather than offering specific policy prescriptions.
His comments add to a broader debate about how European states should balance relations with the United States and one another amid fluctuating US policy, and come as leaders across the continent reassess defence, economic and diplomatic strategies in light of recent global developments.