'Milestone': Britain to sign defence pact with Germany

Sir Keir Starmer has scored the first major breakthrough in his great Brexit reset with a landmark new deal with Germany.

- KATE DEVLIN

Less than four months into his premiership, the prime minister has struck an agreement with the most influential and powerful member state in the European Union.

Under the plans, German aircraft in the Luftwaffe, the country’s air force, will operate from a base in Britain to help protect the North Atlantic from the growing threat from Russia, while around 400 jobs are set to be created in a new munitions factory in the UK.

Defence secretary John Healey said the agreement represented a “major strengthening of Europe’s security” and was a “milestone moment” in the UK’s relationship with Germany. But the prime minister was urged to go further in strengthening the UK’s relationship with the EU and seize other areas of cooperation.

Sir Nick Harvey, a former armed forces minister and the chief executive of the pro-EU campaign group, European Movement, described the deal as “excellent news for Britain, our defence and our industries. Germany is a crucial partner.”

But he added: “Keir Starmer and his new government should now follow through and take their reset in UK-EU relations into all the other major challenges we face together”.

As part of his reset, the prime minister has promised to fix Britain’s damaged relationship with the European Union for the benefit of “generations to come”.

Earlier this year there were reports Germany wanted to respond to Sir Keir’s proposed security pact with what was dubbed a post-Brexit “mega deal”, looking at everything from the rules around agriculture to student exchange programmes.