Anew political bromance is brewing on the continent. Keir Starmer has met Olaf Scholz, his German counterpart, three times since he entered Downing Street last month. Already the two men have found plenty in common. Both are social democrats, both are lawyers from similar backgrounds and both went through a socialist phase before selling themselves on competence. ‘Charisma is largely alien to them,’ said Der Spiegel after the two met recently at Blenheim Palace. ‘Perhaps this is why they like each other so much.’
Most importantly, Starmer and Scholz are both very keen for a new, closer relationship between the United Kingdom and the European Union.
Under the strategy, it seems, Britain would unilaterally but informally agree to match EU regulations
After Starmer won the Labour leadership in 2020, he quickly did what he could to dispel the notion that he was a diehard Remainer (even if he did once cite Beethoven’s ‘Ode to Joy’, the EU anthem, as the tune that best sums up the Labour party).
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