Demonstration in Paris, France against EU, NATO and energy policy

The first visit abroad of the new Prime Minister, Sir Keir Starmer, was when he headed for the US to meet the US President Biden and attend the NATO summit in July [1]. Last week Starmer met with two of the major powers of the EU - Germany and France - to discuss "trade, defence and other ties". He combined this two-day visit with attendance at the opening of the Paralympics on Wednesday evening. Amid the deepening crisis within the European Union, which includes the catastrophe of Britain's Brexit, reports were full of the Prime Minister's claim that the visit is "aiming for a post-Brexit reset in relations with core European partners following Labour's election triumph".

On August 28, the British Prime Minister held talks in Berlin with German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier. Scholz succeeded Angela Merkel as Chancellor - head of the German government - in 2021; President Steinmeier - head of state of Germany - is currently serving his second five-year term as President, a term which began in March 2022. Reports indicate that the two countries launched a dialogue for a new UK-German treaty to increase business and joint action on "illegal migration" [2]. Reports say that Britain and Germany aim to "agree the first such partnership deal since Brexit by early 2025, modelled on the UK's existing Lancaster House accords with France, which cover defence and security notably". Keir Starmer said in a press conference with Olaf Scholz, which the press complained had little detail, that a new defence agreement will build on the "already formidable" co-operation between the two countries. However, ongoing contradictions re -emerged in the talks with a proposal from Brussels and Germany "that an agreement on youth mobility could be a key demand in any negotiations". Keir Starmer set this particular proposal aside, insisting that he was not "reversing Brexit", but that he had hopes for "a wider reset" with the European Union. He said that "does mean a closer relationship on a number of fronts, including the economy, including defence, including exchanges, but we do not have plans for a youth mobility scheme". He added that "the deal would not mean re-entering the single market or the customs union". To put this issue with the EU request for youth mobility into context, it appears that Starmer's vision for a "wider reset" includes full co-operation of the military and their war industries and mobility of their personnel across borders of the EU, but excludes civilian "youth mobility".

Arms export demonstration, Germany

On August 29, following his attendance at the Paralympics opening ceremony the previous day, the Prime Minister had a breakfast meeting with French business leaders, as well as holding a summit meeting with French President Emmanuel Macron at the Elysée Palace in the afternoon. Briefing reporters after his meeting with President Macron in the afternoon, the Starmer again said little of the details: "We discussed the situation in Ukraine, as you would expect, the situation in the Middle East, bilateral issues in terms of trade and defence and security, but also the wider reset that I want in relation to our relations, not just with France, but with the EU in general. They were the topics that we discussed as part of the reset, rebuild and making sure that our number one mission, which is growing the economy, is absolutely central to everything that we do."

Whilst few details have emerged from this two-day hurried visit of the Prime Minister to meet Scholz and Macron, it is evident that the Prime Minister used the visit to try and bolster his "Brexit" credentials in Britain, making press briefings before he left about being tough on the "far right" as well as targeting immigrants and defending "Brexit". What Starmer will not admit is that the sentiment for Brexit among working people represented their opposition to the anti-social offensive which sought to make them shoulder the burden of the chaos and crisis while the oligarchs and the financial elites enriched themselves at their expense. Also, the Prime Minister, who had been briefed in Washington in July, was serving the interests of the US in keeping the EU leaders on board and on message to the Anglo-US war plans in Europe.

In the joint press conference in Berlin, it can be said that the main unity and relationship of these powers of Old Europe was in continuing their support for the neo-Nazi regime in Ukraine and the dangerous escalation of the NATO proxy war against Russia, the same policies of successive Conservative Prime Ministers. Like Prime Minister Sunak before him, Starmer continues support for and the arming of Israel in its genocide against the Palestinians. This criminal stand cannot be ignored whilst the Israelis commit massacres and atrocities against Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank on a daily basis.

Cost of living demonstration, Cologne, Germany

As commentators have pointed out, Olaf Scholz and Starmer are such bedfellows that they have already met five times since Starmer became Prime Minister [3]. And as for Macron and Starmer, they are both keen to promote their credentials as politicians of the "centre left". In reality, this "centre left" has long been exposed as a bankrupt reference point favoured by neo-liberalism to justify dividing the polity into "left" and "right", both of which are portrayed as extremes, while claiming to occupy the "centre ground", which is supposedly where all good moderates should position themselves and succumb to the strictures of austerity, and furthermore that this austerity is ostensibly carried out in the interests of the workers' movement and with sympathy with the slogan that Enough Is Enough.

The similarity between Macron and Starmer is fundamentally that they both wish to make their respective countries competitive in the global marketplace, and that "centre left" to them means being pro-business, putting the oligopolies first while "tough decisions" have to be made to continue the neo-liberal anti-social offensive against the working class and people, as well as to militarise the economy [4]. Furthermore, they are both dedicated to the strengthening of police powers in the hands of the executive to be used against what are termed "extremists". The same appears true of Olaf Scholz of the Social Democrats, whose government newspapers such as the FT report as being threatened from the "far-left" and from the "far-right", and that the "centre ground" is becoming increasingly embattled.

Whether there is any change in their relationship or not, the European Union is caught in deepening crisis, and these state regime entities in Britain and the EU represent the predatory anti-social and pro-war interests of the oligopolies to dominate in Europe and beyond. This they do at the expense of the interests of the people of Britain and Europe who stand for social and economic development and for peace. This cannot be tolerated. Like Blair, Starmer who claims to represent labour will never convince the people that his imperialists' values are their values. People will never accept that war and genocide should be imposed on their backs in Britain and Europe. Their values are for peace, freedom and democracy for the peoples. The Labour government's crisis of legitimacy is only deepening. Meanwhile the struggles of the people, not only in Britain but in France and Germany too, are intensifying.

Notes
1. Twelve days of the Labour Government: Before Parliament Even Convenes, Starmer Stands on the Side of Escalating War and Giving Support to Israeli Genocide - Workers' Weekly, July 20 2024
https://www.rcpbml.org.uk/wwie-24/ww24-18/ww24-18-01.htm
2. Keir Starmer says 'wider reset' with Europe will not mean 'reversing Brexit' as he visits Berlin - The Standard, August 28 2024
https://www.standard.co.uk/news/politics/keir-starmer-berlin-germany-chancellor-treaty-europe-france-paralympics-b1178641.html
3. As a UK government press release of August 27 states: "The European visit is the fifth time the Prime Minister has met Chancellor Scholz and the fourth time meeting President Macron, following the NATO Summit in Washington, the European Political Community hosted at Blenheim Palace, the UEFA Euro 2024 final, and the Olympic opening ceremony hosted last month."
https://www.gov.uk/government/news/prime-minister-to-drive-uk-growth-on-european-visits-as-he-launches-major-german-partnership
4. The same government press release of August 27 states: "[Starmer] will also meet Armin Theodor Papperger, the chief executive of Germany's largest defence and security company, Rheinmetall. Rheinmetall is also vital to the modernisation of the British Army, supporting thousands of jobs at sites in the south west and Shropshire, and has recently made significant investments in its Telford Hub to deliver Boxer armoured fighting vehicles. [...] The new UK-Germany treaty will be a key pillar of the UK's wider reset with Europe and build on the defence agreement, which is currently being negotiated between the two countries, and expected to be finalised in the autumn."

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