{"id":121872,"date":"2023-12-01T10:29:17","date_gmt":"2023-12-01T10:29:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/cottontailsonline.com\/?p=121872"},"modified":"2023-12-01T10:29:17","modified_gmt":"2023-12-01T10:29:17","slug":"top-brexiteer-dismantles-david-lammys-call-for-security-pact-with-eu","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cottontailsonline.com\/politics\/top-brexiteer-dismantles-david-lammys-call-for-security-pact-with-eu\/","title":{"rendered":"Top Brexiteer dismantles David Lammys call for security pact with EU"},"content":{"rendered":"

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David Lammy’s call for a defence-security pact with the EU has been shot down with a single brutal statement from an arch-Brexiteer.<\/p>\n

The Shadow Foreign Secretary promised to strengthen the UK\u2019s relationship with the European Union if his party succeeds in next year\u2019s general election. He told the i podcast Labour\u2019s Plan For Power that the EU will be Labour\u2019s “number one priority” in foreign affairs, adding that a security pact with the bloc – previously rejected by Boris Johnson – would be “fundamental” to this.<\/p>\n

But MP for Wokingham and veteran Brexit campaigner Sir John Redwood, simply responded: “Labour says they want a new defence agreement with the EU. We already have one with the EU\u2019s military powers. It is called NATO.”<\/p>\n

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READ MORE <\/strong> David Lammy slams Jeremy Corbyn after refusal to call Hamas terrorists<\/strong><\/p>\n

Mr Lammy said on the podcast that the war in Ukraine “demonstrates” why a security pact with the EU would be beneficial.<\/p>\n

He added he believed Britons would find it “extraordinary” that the UK Government does not sit down for talks with the European Union “every four months or every six months”.<\/p>\n

“We need to get back to that,” he added. Discussing the conflict in Ukraine, Mr Lammy said a security pact with the EU would “be cast as wide as possible” to include “security issues about migration”.<\/p>\n

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While they are separate entities, there is a great deal of crossover between EU and NATO membership – they respectively have 27 and 31 member states, of which 22 are members of both. There are just four EU members who are not part of NATO: Austria, Cyprus, Ireland, and Malta.<\/p>\n

Also weighing in on the comments, Chairman of the Conservative Party Richard Holden said: “Erm\u2026 well we all know it\u2019s been Sir Keir Starmer\u2019s priority. Turns out it\u2019s now officially Labour policy too\u2026<\/p>\n

“You might have thought that the British people would be Labour\u2019s priority – but for Labour, local people and our country will always be secondary to ideology. Remember that Sir Keir Starmer tried to make Jeremy Corbyn our Prime Minister\u2026 twice\u2026”<\/p>\n

Despite calling for closer relations with the bloc, Mr Lammy did not pledge a return to the EU for the UK. He insisted that his focus as foreign secretary would be to work in the national interests of both Leave and Remain voters.<\/p>\n

However, he did not rule out a return to the bloc down the track. Writing for the Daily Express, Labour leader Sir Keir Starmer has previously stated the future of the UK lies beyond the EU.<\/p>\n