Good morning. In the UK many MPs will be spending the bank holiday campaigning for the elections on Thursday, but Keir Starmer is in Armenia, where he has announced that he wants the UK to join the EU’s €90bn (£78bn) loan for Ukraine.
Starmer is attending a European Political Community summit in Yerevan. The EPC is the group set up four years ago comprising all the EU countries, plus almost all the other European countries that are not EU members. Mark Carney, the Canadian PM, is also attending (on the grounds, presumably, that in the light of the geopolitical upheavel caused by Donald Trump, the Canadians now count as honorary Europeans.)
The €90bn loan for Ukraine is the one that has been long talked about, but which only became possible after Viktor Orbán, the pro-Russian Hungarian PM who was vetoing it, was kicked out of office last month. The advantage for the UK of joining (besides boosting military support for Ukraine) is that it would allow British firms to access the contracts the loan will fund.
Speaking to the media as he arrived at the summit, Starmer said:
In relation to the EU loan that we are discussing participating in, that is very good for Ukraine, because it will give Ukraine capability that is desperately needs in year five of this conflict.
It’s very good for the UK, because of the capability that leads to jobs in the United Kingdom.
And it’s very good for UK-EU relations, which is very important as we go on to the various discussions.
As Downing Street says in its news release, this initiative is not a one-off; it is part of Starmer’s bid to improve and deepen the UK’s post-Brexit relations with the EU.
The extra funding to Ukraine could unlock opportunity for British businesses to fill urgent capability needs for Ukraine as part of the initiative and give British defence industry access to major contracts.
The move is a significant step towards a new ambitious relationship between the UK and EU – building on the prime minister’s calls at the Munich Security Conference in February to deepen defence and security cooperation to match the rapidly evolving threats faced by both sides. It also comes ahead of the UK – EU summit, expected to be held this summer, where both sides will discuss further economic and security cooperation.
This morning the Times is splashing on a story saying that, if Starmer wants the UK to have closer access to the EU single market, it will have to start making annual payments to Brussels for the first time since Brexit, perhaps worth around £1bn a year. In response, the government said that it did not recognise this figure, but that it would not comment on ongoing negotiations.
Here is the agenda for the day.
Morning: Starmer is in Yerevan in Armenia for the EPC meeting, and is also due to hold various bilaterals. He is expected to be speaking to the media early afternoon (UK time).
10am: Anas Sarwar, the Scottish Labour leader, has a campaign event. And, separately, Russell Findlay, the Scottish Conservative leader, is campaigning in Edinburgh.
Afternoon: Kemi Badenoch, the Conservative leader, is campaigning in Essex.
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