What exactly is the point of Starmer’s EU defence pact?

Sir Keir Starmer’s cherished agreement on defence with the European Union seems to have been high on the diplomatic agenda for a very long time without ever quite reaching its top. The Labour party’s manifesto for last year’s general election promised an ‘ambitious new UK-EU security pact to strengthen cooperation on the threats we face’. We have heard the word ‘reset’ in terms of our relationship with the EU so often that it has lost most of whatever meaning it once had.

Next week, however, the UK will host a summit for the Prime Minister to engage with EU leaders and, at last, approve this long-anticipated and discussed defence deal. The Times has gleaned some of the major elements of the agreement: it will be ‘unique and ambitious’ – it would be odd if negotiators on either side had dismissed it as ‘ten-a-penny’ or ‘low-hanging fruit’; it will make it easier to move military assets and personnel across the continent; and it will make some provision for the UK to participate in the Security Action for Europe (SAFE) defence industry fund and EU military missions.

The agreement is reportedly heavy on sententious rhetoric, with the UK and the EU facing a ‘decisive moment’ and the ‘greatest threat in a generation’.