Keir Starmer has branded a new deal with German Chancellor Friedrich Merz a ‘statement of intent and ambition’ as the nations agreed on transport, e-visas and small boats
Keir Starmer has hailed a historic “statement of intent and ambition” as the UK and Germany agreed a first ever major treaty between the two nations.
The deal could see a new direct train line linking the countries within a decade, as well as allowing millions of Brits access to e-gates at airports. Mr Starmer and German Chancellor Friedrich Merz also agreed to beef up defence and work together more closely to tackle small boats.
The Prime Minister said the landmark treaty showed the two nations have a “shared resolve to shape the new era with new leadership” after years of frosty relations with Europe. Mr Merz told an audience at the Airbus headquarters in Stevenage that he “deplored” the fact the UK had left the EU.
But he vowed to work closely with Britain on issues like migration in future. The two nations agreed to create a new taskforce to examine a direct Eurostar-style rail link in the next 10 years.
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And frequent travellers between the UK and Germany will be able to use e-gates by the end of next month, it was announced. This will be followed by a rollout for all British nationals as soon as technically possible.
The agreement also includes visa-free school trip travel, with a new scheme set to come in by the end of the year. And there is a promise to “assist one another, including by military means, in case of an armed attack on the other”.
The PM said he was “extremely grateful” for new laws in Germany which will criminalise trafficking gangs behind dangerous journeys to the UK. Mr Starmer said that Brexit meant authorities were unable to target groups storing small boat parts in warehouses across the country.
But he said joint measures – which include a commitment to fight organised cross-border crime – “show we mean business”. It comes a week after the UK agreed a “one-in-one-out” migrant deal with France, the first return agreement since leaving the EU.
This will see small boat arrivals sent back to France for the first time, in exchange for people with a legitimate claim to settle in Britain.
Mr Starmer told a press conference: “Last week, we obviously dealt with what’s happening in the north of France in relation to maritime tactics and our ability to return people through the returns agreement that we agreed last week to France.
“But for a long time, I’ve been very concerned about the fact that engines, in particular, but component parts of the boats that are being used are travelling through and being stored in Germany, but they can’t be seized because the law didn’t accommodate for a country which had left the EU and therefore needed to be amended.
“And I am very grateful for the chancellor, and we’ve discussed this at great length on a number of occasions, he’s now going to change the law, introduce the necessary legislation, so that we can intervene in that place.”
Mr Merz said it was “overdue for us to conclude such a treaty with each other”. The treaty was signed at the V&A Museum in London, which is named after Queen Victoria and her German husband, Prince Albert.
The Prime Minister said the deal sealed a “partnership with a purpose”.
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