David Lammy said he rejected the EU’s new attempt to bring the UK closer | Policy | news

The EU sparked fury this evening after foreign ministers urged Britain to send British troops to Brussels-led peacekeeping missions.

In the latest demand amid Sir Keir Starmer’s renegotiations, several EU ministers used a meeting with Foreign Secretary David Lammy to call on the UK to take part in security policy missions and common defense (CSDP) of the EU.

The EU currently has 24 active CSDP missions, involving 3,500 military personnel and 1,300 civil servants.

One cocky attendee of the meeting appeared to believe the Prime Minister and the government would cave in to such a request, telling the Financial Times that while Britain would not announce participation immediately, it “will” at some point.

Unlike calls for rejoining the Single Market or the Customs Union, Sir Keir has refused to rule out other major concessions as part of his renegotiations.

Likewise, Lammy has not rejected the EU’s request, withdrawing the proposal for consideration.

UK Reform criticized the plan, calling on the government to ditch the EU and “boring its euro fantasies”.

Deputy leader Richard Tice told the Express: “It’s becoming clearer every day that this so-called ‘reset’ is nothing more than a ploy to drag us into the European Union.

“Labour is still full of Europhiles who would like nothing more than to see us back in the European Union.

“Keir Starmer and David Lammy must respect the decision made by the country in 2016 and finally put their fantasies on the euro.

“Peacekeeping is done by the UN and defense is ensured with NATO. The EU has no role except meddling.”

In a joint article today, Mr. Lammy and the EU’s chief diplomat, Josep Borrell, said the UK and the EU were “very committed to responding to conflicts and crises”.

They went on to say: “But we are always stronger when we work together to tackle these challenges… However, there is still more to do to strengthen UK-EU defense and security cooperation.”

Earlier, Sir Keir sparked allegations that he was preparing to use his EU negotiations to sell out British fishermen after he refused to rule out foreign trawlers catching in UK waters.

In a press conference after meeting Ursula von der Leyen, president of the European Commission, the prime minister ruled out a return to freedom of movement, the single market and the customs union.

But he dodged other questions about what he was willing to give to the European Union in order to facilitate its desired closer relationship.

Sir Keir was twice asked whether he could reach a deal to allow EU fishing vessels access to UK marine protected areas or lift the ban on fishing in the North Sea.

In a remarkable dodge of the question, the prime minister replied: “I’m not suggesting that these things at some point shouldn’t be dealt with, of course they will.”