UK and France order more Storm Shadow missiles and step up military co-operation
The two countries have discussed co-operation on a replacement for years but, as French president Emmanuel Macron visits the UK, the nations will commit on Thursday towards the next phase of the project for Storm Shadow's successor.
The joint development will help to sustain more than 1,300 jobs in the UK, according to the Government.
On the third day of Mr Macron's UK state visit, he and Sir Keir Starmer will also agree to deepen nuclear ties.
Britain and France, the only two nuclear powers in Europe, will state in a declaration that their nuclear deterrents – while independent – can be co-ordinated, with the aim of deterring threats like Russia from attacking Europe.
The declaration comes at a time when Donald Trump's US administration is calling on European Nato powers to take on a larger role in the alliance.
Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer said: 'From war in Europe, to new nuclear risks and daily cyber-attacks – the threats we face are multiplying.
'As close partners and Nato allies, the UK and France have a deep history of defence collaboration and today's agreements take our partnership to the next level.
'We stand ready to use our shared might to advance our joint capabilities – equipping us for the decades to come while supporting thousands of UK jobs and keeping our people safe.'
Defence Secretary John Healey said: 'The UK and France are stepping up together to meet today's threats and tomorrow's challenges. We are committed to driving defence as an engine for growth, delivering better fighting capabilities faster, and ensuring our armed forces can operate side by side – from the High North to the Black Sea.
'This partnership strengthens our leadership in Europe, ensures continued support for Ukraine, and sends a clear signal to our adversaries that we stand stronger, together.'
Building on the 2010 Lancaster House treaties between France and the UK, the two countries will also bolster a shared military venture, known as the Combined Joint Force.
They also plan to forge closer military industrial ties, including in AI and direct energy weapons, as part of a programme dubbed the 'Entente Industrielle' by the UK Government.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Telegraph
26 minutes ago
- Telegraph
Farage beats Starmer in every respect except one, poll finds
Voters believe Nigel Farage is better than Sir Keir Starmer in almost every respect, but is less honest than him, according to a new poll. The Reform UK leader is seen as being more in touch with ordinary people, paying greater attention to detail and being a stronger leader than the Prime Minister. A new survey by Ipsos asked respondents to say whether they felt certain positive characteristics applied to Sir Keir, Mr Farage or Kemi Badenoch, the Tory leader. The Reform leader came out on top in every question, apart from when voters had to say which of the leaders they believed was an 'honest person'. It comes as Reform continues to surge in the polls, with Ipsos finding that the party is ahead of Labour and the Conservatives. The party exceeded expectations at the local elections in May, when they gained over 600 councillors and seized the parliamentary seat of Runcorn and Helsby from Labour. More than 50 per cent of voters said that Mr Farage had 'a lot of personality', compared to just 21 per cent saying the same of the Prime Minister. Thirty seven per cent said that they felt Mr Farage was a capable leader, and 41 per cent said they would describe him as a strong leader, compared to just 31 per cent and 26 per cent for Sir Keir. But a third of respondents said that the Prime Minister was honest, compared to 29 per cent for Mr Farage. Sir Keir suffered the biggest fall in approval rating after winning an election of any prime minister in the modern era, despite his landslide 174-seat majority. Despite the vast number of Labour MPs, ministers have struggled to pass key legislation because of the discontent on their backbenches. The largest rebellion of the Prime Minister's career meant that he was forced to back down on several elements of his welfare reforms, eradicating billions in planned savings. Other policies that have attracted particularly widespread criticism include the scrapping of the universal winter fuel payment for pensioners, which the Chancellor had to partly reverse. The new polling also found that just a quarter of people believe that Rachel Reeves will still be the Chancellor by the next general election. The number of voters who think that Sir Keir understands the problems facing Britain has fallen by 18 per cent since the general election last year. The latest poll also found that voters narrowly judged Mr Farage to be 'good in a crisis' at 27 per cent, compared to 26 per cent for Sir Keir. Mrs Badenoch received just 18 per cent.
NBC News
29 minutes ago
- NBC News
The EU is delaying retaliatory tariffs on US goods in hopes of reaching a deal by Aug. 1
BRUSSELS — The European Union will suspend retaliatory tariffs on U.S. goods scheduled to take effect Monday in hopes of reaching a trade deal with the Trump administration by the end of the month. "This is now the time for negotiations," European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen told reporters in Brussels on Sunday, after President Donald Trump sent a letter announcing new tariffs of 30% on goods from the EU and Mexico starting Aug. 1. The EU — America's biggest trading partner and the world's largest trading bloc — had been scheduled to impose "countermeasures" starting Monday at midnight Brussels time (6 p.m. EDT; 22:00 GMT). The EU negotiates trade deals on behalf of its 27 member countries. Von der Leyen said those countermeasures would be delayed until Aug. 1, and that Trump's letter shows "that we have until the first of August" to negotiate. "We have always been clear that we prefer a negotiated solution," she said. If they can't reach a deal, she said that "we will continue to prepare countermeasures so we are fully prepared." Europe's biggest exports to the U.S. are pharmaceuticals, cars, aircraft, chemicals, medical instruments and wine and spirits. Italian Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani was heading to Washington for talks Monday with the U.S. administration and Congress. In a statement, Tajani's office said that in his talks with EU allies before the meetings, he stressed the need to "negotiate with one's head held high." The right-wing government of Premier Giorgia Meloni, the only EU leader to attend Trump's inauguration, has sought to position itself as a " bridge" between Brussels and Washington. Trump has said his global tariffs would set the foundation for reviving a U.S. economy that he claims has been ripped off by other nations for decades. Trump in his letter to the EU said the U.S. trade deficit was a national security threat. Trump isn't satisfied with some of the draft agreements on trade, White House National Economic Council Kevin Hassett said on ABC News Sunday. "The bottom line is that he's seen some sketches of deals that had been negotiated with Howard Lutnick and the rest of the trade team, and the president thinks that the deals need to be better, and to basically put a line in the sand, he sent these letters out to folks. And we'll see how it works out," he said. U.S. trade partners — and companies around the world from French winemakers to German carmakers — have faced months of uncertainty and on-and-off threats from Trump to impose tariffs, with deadlines sometimes extended or changed. The tariffs could have ramifications for nearly every aspect of the global economy. The value of EU-U.S. trade in goods and services amounted to 1.7 trillion euros ($2 trillion) in 2024, or an average of 4.6 billion euros a day, according to EU statistics agency Eurostat. Trade ministers from EU countries are scheduled to meet Monday to discuss trade relations with the U.S., as well as with China. Speaking alongside Indonesian President Prabowo Subianto, von der Leyen said the trade tensions with the U.S. show the importance of ''diversifying our trade relationships." Announcing closer cooperation between the EU and Indonesia, she stressed the need for ''predictable'' trading partnerships based on ''trust.'' The Indonesian leader said, ''I think the United States will be always a very important leader in the world,'' but also stressed the need for multilateral relationships, adding, ''We would like to see a very strong Europe.''
ITV News
30 minutes ago
- ITV News
Ukraine's security agency says it killed Russian agents suspected of assassinating senior officer
Ukraine 's security agency said it tracked down and killed Russian agents suspected of shooting one of its senior officers to death in the Ukrainian Security Service of Ukraine said in a statement on Sunday that the suspected Russian agents were killed in the Kyiv region after they offered resistance to arrest. A video released by the agency showed two bodies lying on the agency said earlier that a man and a woman were suspected to be involved in Thursday's assassination of Ivan Voronych, an SBU colonel, in a bold daylight attack that was caught on surveillance cameras. Media reports claimed that Voronych was involved in covert operations in Russia -occupied territories of Ukraine and reportedly helped organize Ukraine's surprise incursion into Russia's Kursk region last a series of massive attacks across Ukraine involving hundreds of exploding drones, Russia launched 60 drones overnight, Ukraine's air force said. It said 20 of them were shot down and 20 others were Ukrainian authorities reported that four civilians were killed and 13 others injured in Russian attacks on the Donetsk and Kherson regions since Saturday.
