What can the PM get from European leaders' meeting?
The Independent|July 18, 2024
Another week, another huge international summit. After winning the general election, flying to Washington for the Nato summit and leading the debate on the King's Speech, Keir Starmer welcomes the prime minister of Ireland to Chequers and 45 European leaders to the European Political Community meeting at Blenheim Palace today.
SEAN O'GRADY
What can the PM get from European leaders' meeting?

Representatives from Nato,the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe and the Council of Europe will also be in attendance.

As the birthplace of Churchill and an MI5 base during the last war, Blenheim Palace has plenty of appropriate historic reminders of a shared European history. The formal agenda will cover irregular migration, disinformation, and the lack of energy security as well as Ukraine.

The government says 800 scones will be served for afternoon tea – about two per delegate.

What does Keir Starmer want?

He wants a “reset” in relations between the UK and the European Union. That means rebuilding the bridges of trust, and projecting a more rational and open policy than was the case in the frosty post-referendum period and with the often combative behaviour of Boris Johnson and Liz Truss. Rishi Sunak worked hard to repair that damage, but there’s more to do. As the prime minister saw it at the end of the Nato summit: “There was a sense after Brexit that the UK has become too inward-looking, was not as interested as it once was in its place on the global stage. The UK is confident, is back.”

Anything in particular?

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