Thanks to Donald Trump, we've edged closer to Europe, but the entente isn't always cordiale

Andrew Rawnsley

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We should also give some credit to Donald Trump.

Proponents of the “Anglosphere” used to suggest that we could afford to cast ourselves off from Europe because Albion would always have America. That contention has stood the test of time no better than milk left in sunshine. The US president's decision to set the Middle East on fire, his petulant trash-talking of Nato, his belittling of the sacrifices made by British soldiers in Afghanistan and his vitriolic abuse of the UK, this is being noticed. Fewer than one in six Brits now think we have a “special relationship” with America, while a plurality want a closer bond with Europe. They agree with Mark Carney, the prime minister of Canada, when he advises the middle powers to club together.

Sir Keir Starmer is taking the hint. Once, he was adamantly opposed to the idea that the UK has to choose between the US and Europe. Now the prime minister is doing precisely that. On America’s strategic follies over Iran, as on Trump's predatory designs on Greenland and threats to sell out Ukraine, the prime minister has aligned the UK with other European powers in opposition to Washington. In a recent address from Number 10, Sir Keir claimed he would be “more ambitious” about partnering with the EU to cope with “the dangerous world that we must navigate together”.