When Nigel Farage’s Reform UK is only one level behind you within the opinion polls, the very last thing you need to be reminded about is Brexit.
Should you’re Sir Keir Starmer, that’s.
Little doubt Poland’s prime minister, Donald Tusk, was making an attempt to be pleasant. In spite of everything, as Sir Keir mentioned, they share a ardour for Arsenal Soccer Membership.
Was it an ambush? Not fairly. But it surely was actually awkward for the UK prime minister. He stood stiffly and did not reply, not as soon as uttering the phrase “Brexit”.
Mr Tusk, nevertheless, has kind for bemoaning Brexit. He was, in spite of everything, the president of the European Council when the UK voted to depart the EU in 2016.
He would possibly now be in his second spell as Poland’s PM, however his 5 years on the EU make him the last word Brussels insider, who’s by no means made any try to cover his emotions on Brexit.
Previous to the UK referendum, in September 2015, he mentioned Brexit “could be the beginning of the destruction of not only the EU but also of western political civilisation in its entirety”.
His most outspoken assault on the UK’s Eurosceptics got here in 2019 when the-then prime minister Theresa Could was struggling to get a deal. He spoke of “what the special place in hell looks like for those who promoted Brexit”.
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Sir Keir additionally visited Ukraine on his journey to Jap Europe. Pic: PA
Standing alongside Sir Keir, he revealed that “for obvious reasons” they mentioned co-operation between the UK and the EU. He recalled that his emotional response to the referendum in 2016 was “I already miss you”.
He went on: “This is not just about emotions and sentiments – I am aware this is a dream of mine, that instead of a Brexit we will have a Breturn.
“Maybe I am labouring below an phantasm. I might slightly be an optimist and harbour these goals in my coronary heart – typically they arrive true in politics.”
A dream? Or a calculated transfer? As a Brussels insider, was Mr Tusk talking for the EU as an entire? Was he doing Brussels’ bidding?
He could have returned to steer his homeland, however he stays a key participant in Brussels.
On turning into Poland’s PM in 2023, he ended a dispute with Brussels which unlocked billions of frozen EU funds for his nation.
He additionally orchestrated the return of his centre-right ally Ursula von der Leyen as European Fee president.
And Poland has simply taken over the rotating presidency of the EU, which suggests Mr Tusk will likely be massively influential as soon as once more, chairing conferences and setting agendas.
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Poland is again within the European mainstream. It is the place Mr Tusk would love the UK to be as properly.
It is the place, privately, Sir Keir would love the UK to be. It is simply that with Reform UK nearly neck and neck with Labour within the polls, he daren’t say so.
