The EU wants to shaft British defence firms

Sir Keir Starmer’s attitude to Europe and the EU is hard to fathom. As a left-leaning human rights lawyer who lived in Kentish Town before he moved into Downing St, he could hardly be more of a stereotyped Remainer. He campaigned to stay in the EU and to hold a second referendum when he was Jeremy Corbyn’s Brexit spokesman. Yet by the time the Labour party manifesto was published last year, he pledged ‘no return to the single market, the customs union, or freedom of movement.’

Perhaps this week his attitude will be clarified. On Wednesday, the European Commission published a White Paper on defence and rearmament. One of the most eye-catching proposals was the establishment of a €150 billion loan instrument, snappily entitled Security Action for Europe, or ‘Safe’. The purpose of this fund is for EU member states to ‘invest in key defence areas like missile defence, drones, and cyber security.