Sir Keir Starmer choosing ‘more Europe’ over US and Donald Trump presents risks for us all
Using Trump’s intention to introduce import tariffs and make European members of Nato pay more for their defence as a pretext, siren calls for the UK to establish closer alignment, if not full membership of the EU (yet) are becoming commonplace.
Some are suggesting the UK should re-join the EU’s single market and customs union, while many are lobbying for our armed forces to become entangled in defence arrangements controlled by EU politicians.
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Hide AdMeanwhile lop-sided proposals for a freedom of movement visa are being worked on that will make the UK the answer to high youth unemployment levels prevalent across the EU.


Sir Keir Starmer and Rachel Reeves repeatedly say they are not seeking to reverse Brexit, yet their actions suggest their assurances are little more than word salads prepared as the entrée before the intended main course of EU membership in all, but name.
Let me say once more, the European Union the UK voted to leave in 2016 no longer exists. Eight years on it is now far more costly, far more in debt, far more heavily regulated and has plans to accelerate its decline by increasing all these burdens further.
Don’t take my word for it, Mario Draghi, the former president of the European Central Bank tasked with reviewing EU competitiveness, reported recently the EU is failing economically and faces “an existential challenge”. This was written before Trump reclaimed the presidency.
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Hide AdDraghi identified many of the EU’s problems are due to the high level of regulation that suppresses innovation and high taxes that raise costs, stifle productivity and limit wealth creation.
He said, “Across different metrics, a wide gap in GDP has opened up between the EU and the US, driven mainly by a more pronounced slowdown in productivity growth in Europe. Europe’s households have paid the price in foregone living standards. On a per capita basis, real disposable income has grown almost twice as much in the US as in the EU since 2000.”
The productivity comparison is stark. Since 2005, US labour productivity has grown at an annual average of 1.4 per cent, whereas EU productivity grew by only 0.9 per cent between 2007 and 2022. Compounding that persistent disparity, year after year, leads to a major difference in national prosperity – the productivity gap between the EU economy and US widening by 8.4 per cent since 2000.
Draghi argued “the EU is weak in the emerging technologies that will drive future growth”, noting how “only four of the world’s top 50 tech companies are European”. And yet the EU is already tying up development of artificial intelligence in regulation, just as it did the internet and social media.
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Hide AdThe result for real people has been a huge divergence between US and European citizens, firstly in the average earnings and secondly in how much is retained after taxes.
The evidence is provided by Eurostat, the EU’s own statistical agency, which reported that if the average EU citizen’s purchasing power in 2022 is benchmarked at 100, the average US citizen was at 153 – in other words 53 per cent better off.
When comparing the earnings between the United States and Europe from a wide variety of jobs, research shows US salaries are consistently higher.
Examples that are 30 per cent or 50 per cent more is not difficult and some like-for-like salaries can even be double those found in Europe. After tax, the gap between US and European earnings is even greater.
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Hide AdOn average US teachers enjoy a 64 per cent higher starting salary; an average US Roman Catholic Priest receives short of 60 per cent more than the average Italian Priest; an average US nurse receive 76 per cent more than comparable European nurses; and the average starting salary of a US attorney ($101k) is more than double (107 per cent) the same average salary for the same level of attorneys in Europe of $56k.
The outcomes in affordability follow the same pattern, with the average European city apartment 20 per cent higher per sqm, the rental of the average house 35 per cent higher and purchase of a city-centre apartment 38 per cent higher than US comparisons.
The message for Europeans is clear – adopt European public spending levels and have much more of your income taken away in tax, or adopt US public spending levels and have less of your income taken off in tax, with a more dynamic economy.
On a separate front, EU Commission president Ursula Von der Leyen is leading a drive for the EU commissioners for foreign policy and defence to build a “true European Defence Union”. This will be made real by the EU taking on defence as an exclusive competence that would include removal of the member-state veto at EU Council decisions.
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Hide AdThe two commissioners will produce a ‘White Paper on the Future of European Defence’ within 100 days of the start of their mandate.
Thus, by March we should know the intended responsibilities for countries – EU members or not – entangling themselves in EU defence agreements. This will put Starmer on the spot for what exactly he will commit our armed forces and military industrial complex to.
He is already speaking to Germany’s Olaf Scholz and France’s Emmanuel Macron to explore how far he can go. All before Lord Robertson’s Defence Review that will not be available until late 2025.
Be it on economic or defence alignment, Starmer is already working towards agreements that will put the UK at a disadvantage and in danger.
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Hide AdIf presented with a choice of aligning with the US or EU, it would make more sense to build closer relationships with the United States – than to be more involved in the EU.
We signed a trade deal with the EU to avoid its tariffs, Starmer should seek a trade deal with Trump to avoid any he might introduce.
- Brian Monteith is a former member of the Scottish and European parliaments.
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