David Miliband will on Wednesday urge British ministers to forge closer links with the EU and condemn the “absurd” lack of cooperation between London and Brussels on foreign and defence issues.
The former foreign secretary will give a speech at the Irish embassy in London in which he will criticise the Conservatives for their attitude towards the EU and call on the next government to seek much closer ties.
The speech marks a rare intervention in domestic politics for Miliband, who left parliament in 2013 to take up his role as head of the International Rescue Committee in New York. He has repeatedly refused to comment on rumours he could seek a return to British politics before the next election.
Miliband will say: “It is no secret that I always thought that Brexit was a folly. But the self-harm is still shocking.
“The British government rejected the idea of a foreign and defence policy partnership with the EU when it was proposed in 2019. We are therefore left in the absurd position where the EU has strategic partnership agreements with Australia, New Zealand, Canada and Japan, but not the UK.
“It has framework agreements to facilitate the EU’s common security and defence policy with 21 partners, including Colombia and Vietnam, but not with the UK. It has trade and technology councils with the US, and with India – albeit that it faces serious challenges – but not the UK.”
He will call for an agreement between the UK and EU covering defence procurement, cybersecurity, illegal migration, international development and green technology. Such an agreement could even be a legally binding treaty between the two, he suggested, a move which could trigger significant domestic political controversy.
Miliband’s comments are markedly different in tone from most recent remarks on the EU by Labour frontbenchers.
The party leader, Keir Starmer, has ruled out rejoining the single market or the customs union, and quickly shot down an idea by the European Commission last month to make it easier for people aged between 18 and 30 to travel between Britain and the EU. Party strategists say they are unwilling to seek much closer ties in part because of the need to win back leave-supporting voters who voted for the Conservatives in 2019.
Labour has talked about signing agreements with the EU in a limited number of areas however, including defence and exports of livestock and food. The Guardian revealed last month that David Lammy, the shadow foreign secretary, wants to frequently attend meetings of the monthly foreign affairs council, an idea which Miliband will back in his speech.
Miliband’s speech marks the most in-depth examination of what could go into a UK-EU defence and security pact. In it he will call for the two to collaborate and coordinate on a wide range of issues, including launching joint defence research and procurement programmes.
He will also criticise the Tories for making such discussions politically unpalatable. “It is not healthy to have the EU seen as beyond the pale by the Conservative party,” he will say.