UK PM Keir Starmer urges European allies to meet far-right ‘challenge’
Keir Starmer visits Germany and France for first bilateral trip to Europe as UK prime minister
UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer said Wednesday he fears a rise of the far-right in Britain and suggested progressive parties across Europe should jointly fight populism.
Starmer made the comments in Germany where the far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD) is expected to make big gains in regional polls on Sunday, dealing a blow to centre-left Chancellor Olaf Scholz.
“I do think that we should be alive in the UK to the challenge of the far-right and populism and nationalism,” Starmer told reporters in Berlin following a meeting with Scholz.
“There are a number of reasons for my concern – partly what’s happening in the UK, partly what you can see happening in other European countries, including in France and in Germany.”
UK Labour Party leader Starmer swept to power in a landslide general election win against the Conservatives early last month, in a rare recent triumph for a European centre-left party.
The poll, however, also saw the anti-immigration Reform UK party capture 14 per cent of the vote – one of the largest shares for a hard-right British party in UK electoral history.
