Tag: Prime Minister Keir Starmer

Germany, UK sign post-Brexit friendship pact

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz and UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer sign a new friendship treaty | Photo: Michael Kappeler/dpa

The treaty underscores the countries’ mutual defence obligations as NATO allies, which is made especially significant given the UK’s status as a nuclear power. The goal is to boost European deterrence and defence over the next decade. The two sides plan to jointly develop a European-made long-range weapons system capable of striking targets up to 2,000 kilometres away, addressing a capability gap with Russian medium-range missiles.

UK plans up to 12 SSN-AUKUS attack submarines

The cover of the 2023 UK report on AUKUS | Source: Crown Copyright, licensed under the terms of the Open Government Licence v3.0.

British Prime Minister Keir Starmer will announce on Monday ‘the UK’s conventionally armed, nuclear-powered submarine fleet will be significantly expanded, with up to 12 new SSN-AUKUS boats to be built,’ as his government publishes a long-awaited Strategic Defence Review (SDR).