When millions of Britons voted to leave the European Union, they did so on the grounds of sovereignty. People voted to reclaim control over our borders, our laws, and our destiny, and to ensure that our elected MPs take responsibility and are held accountable for decision-making.
Today, that hard-won sovereignty is under threat through the quiet, deceitful and technocratic manoeuvrings of a Labour government seemingly determined to unpick Brexit by stealth.
Staunch Remainer Starmer is reportedly edging closer to signing the UK up to a sweeping new defence pact with the EU, which would see Britain re-engage with EU structures such as PESCO (Permanent Structured Cooperation) and the €8billion European Defence Fund—initiatives designed to deepen military integration across the bloc. Defence experts have already sounded the alarm.
The suggestion that the USA is no longer dependable is a convenient myth peddled by the pro-EU voices to undermine the UK’s transatlantic orientation and to justify deeper EU integration. Trump might be unpredictable, but the US remains committed to NATO - a commitment enshrined in treaty, not some whim. Europe has relied on US military protection for nearly 80 years, so the argument that Britain must now turn to the EU for security is ideology, not strategic thinking.
NATO is intergovernmental, not supranational, meaning Britain keeps its veto, its independent defence capability, and its nuclear deterrent. By joining EU defence schemes like PESCO, we risk ceding decision-making to Brussels – a body we no longer vote for or have any influence.
That is not security, but this shameless, dishonest Labour government is outsourcing British sovereignty. Britain’s armed forces must never be answerable to Brussels.
Yet under Starmer’s plans, we may soon find our defence procurement, strategic priorities, and even troop deployments influenced by EU structures we no longer help shape.
Instead of building a rival defence identity, Europe should meet its NATO obligations. In 2023, only 11 nations out of 31 reached the NATO guideline of two per cent of GDP on defence, up from a mere 7 in 2022. The US spends more than double that, and the American taxpayers should not have to shoulder the burden. Brexit Britain, under the last Conservative government, took the lead, meeting the two per cent target, providing critical support to Ukraine and expanding defence ties in the Indo-Pacific as a key member of AUKUS. As a top-tier NATO power, Britain does not want or need EU defence structures.
This government is chipping away at the foundations of Brexit under your very nose - Sally-Ann Hart
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Tying ourselves back into sluggish EU bureaucracy when we are already partnering with global powers in cutting-edge defence cooperation would weaken, not strengthen, our strategic position. It does not end with defence. The EU is pushing for a youth mobility scheme that would allow citizens aged 18–30 to live and work in the UK for up to three years.
While Starmer has claimed there are “no plans” to implement such a scheme, he has notably refused to rule it out, leaving the door open to future concessions. The numbers matter: youth unemployment in the EU is a major issue, with millions of young Europeans, many fluent in English, eager to find work.
Sadly, young Britons are less likely to speak other European languages, which means a “reciprocal” youth scheme would be anything but. European youth would flood into British cities and job markets, depriving British youngsters of jobs and their dreams.
The Labour government is slowly and deliberately chipping away at the foundations of Brexit. Yet again, Starmer is shafting the UK, this time by offering up our hard-won independence to repair Labour’s relationship with the EU. No mandate, no public debate—just the steady creep of EU alignment, piece by piece. The British public deserves to know how much of our hard-won sovereignty Starmer is willing to trade away.
