Sir Keir Starmer warns the US will no longer 'bankroll' Europe in a change he calls permanent, not a Trump aberration

Speaking at the British Irish Chamber of Commerce dinner in Dublin on Friday evening, former prime minister Sir Keir Starmer delivered his first major public intervention since leaving Downing Street, warning that Europe has been "twice caught asleep" — first by Russia's invasion of Ukraine, then by Trump's demand that allies fund their own defence.

Starmer argued the shift is 'permanent, not an aberration of the Trump presidency', insisting 'things will not go back to the way they were'.

He called for a European "common security framework as much as a common market", with Britain at its centre.

Starmer was awarded honorary life membership of the British Irish Chamber of Commerce for strengthening UK-Ireland relations during his premiership.