Keir Starmer will seek to mend nearly a decade of strained relations with Ireland during a dinner with the Taoiseach, Simon Harris, at Chequers on Wednesday.
This meeting comes on the eve of the largest summit of European leaders ever held in the UK.
In preparation for the arrival of 45 European leaders and their 400-strong delegations at Blenheim Palace, birthplace of Winston Churchill, on Thursday, Thames Valley police have restricted airspace for aircraft and drones around the Oxfordshire estate.
All 27 EU leaders will attend the European Political Community (EPC) summit, along with leaders from non-EU countries including the UK, Iceland, Norway, Kosovo, Serbia, Georgia, Andorra, Albania, and Ukraine. Representatives from NATO, the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), and the Council of Europe will also be present to discuss Europe’s stance in the face of what Starmer described as Russia’s “barbaric” war and “vile” smuggling gangs trafficking “innocent people on perilous journeys that too often end in tragedy.”
Key topics on the agenda include Europe’s future defence strategy, especially in light of a potential Donald Trump re-election as US president, as well as migration, the future of democracy, and energy security.
Hosting the summit provides Starmer with an opportunity to reposition the UK on the international stage after years of Conservative domestic turbulence and to repair relations strained by Brexit. Starmer is expected to address over 45 leaders at the historic palace around 10 am, emphasizing his commitment to forging a new defence and security agreement—a part of the Brexit negotiations that was sought by the EU but overlooked by Theresa May and Boris Johnson.
Following his address, Starmer will participate in a working group on migration, chaired by the Italian prime minister, Giorgia Meloni, and the Albanian prime minister, Edi Rama. In the last EPC meeting in Spain in October, these two leaders, along with Rishi Sunak, Ursula von der Leyen, and Mark Rutte, formulated a five-point plan to tackle the migration crisis in Italy.
Von der Leyen will not attend this time due to a crucial vote in the European Parliament regarding her bid for a second term as European Commission president. Emmanuel Macron and Moldovan president Maia Sandu will co-chair one of two working groups on defence and democracy, with participation from Jens Stoltenberg, NATO secretary general, Josep Borrell, Europe’s chief diplomat, and the prime ministers of Iceland, the Czech Republic, Kosovo, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Andorra, and Finland. Charles Michel, the European Council chief, will chair a second defence and democracy group.
Before the Blenheim event, Starmer has dedicated time for a special dinner meeting with Harris at Chequers, aiming to repair relations with Ireland. He also has a bilateral meeting with Macron scheduled for Thursday.
Harris has expressed support for Starmer’s efforts to reset relations with the EU, which aligns with Ireland’s interests given the additional financial and regulatory burdens Brexit imposed on businesses trading with Great Britain, Ireland’s most valuable export market.
Both Harris and Starmer are aware of the dramatic history of Chequers, including Theresa May’s Brexit plan, which Boris Johnson later criticized as a “constitutional outrage” that would “forfeit control” to Brussels.
The hard Brexit deal Johnson secured after his rise to power in December 2019 led to the worst relations with Ireland in over 50 years, exacerbated by disputes over the Northern Ireland protocol and the suspension of Stormont. Last December, the Irish government initiated a legal challenge against the UK’s decision to offer immunity for Troubles-era crimes in the Legacy Act, a topic likely to be discussed at the dinner.
In October, Leo Varadkar expressed concerns that the UK was “disengaging from the world” due to this legislation and its threats to leave the European Convention on Human Rights and reduce international aid budgets.
Following Labour’s election victory, signs of rapprochement have emerged. Harris has instructed his ministers to increase engagement with their UK counterparts. Photo by Simon Dawson / No10 Downing Street, Wikimedia commons.
