Starmer pledges to bring Britain closer to the EU as he fights calls for his ouster

LONDON, May 11, (AP): Prime Minister Keir Starmer will pledge to bring Britain closer to the European Union as he tries to fight off demands to step down after devastating local election results for his Labour Party. Starmer plans to use a speech on Monday to argue that he will "face up to the big challenges” and restore "hope” to the country. That includes "putting Britain at the heart of Europe,” a decade after the UK voted to leave the EU, his office says.

But Starmer's position is fragile, with dozens of lawmakers calling for him to announce a date for his departure. Former Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner, a powerful lawmaker often seen as a potential challenger, said "what we are doing isn’t working, and it needs to change." Rayner did not explicitly call for Starmer to quit, but accused him of presiding over "a toxic culture of cronyism" and said the government must "stay true to labor and social democratic values” and ease the cost of living for working people.

"This may be our last chance,” Rayner said in a statement on Sunday. Labour has been plunged into gloom by heavy losses last week in local elections across England and legislative votes in Scotland and Wales. The elections have been interpreted as an unofficial referendum on Starmer, whose popularity has plummeted since he swept to power in a landslide less than two years ago.

His government has struggled to deliver promised economic growth, repair tattered public services and ease the cost of living, and been hamstrung by repeated missteps and policy U-turns on issues including welfare reform. He has been further hurt by his disastrous decision to appoint Peter Mandelson, a scandal-tarnished friend of Jeffrey Epstein, as Britain’s ambassador to Washington.

Last week’s elections saw Labour squeezed from both right and left, losing votes to both the anti-immigration Reform UK and the "eco-populist” Green Party. It reflects the increasing fragmentation of British politics, long dominated by Labour and the Conservatives. Starmer hopes to regain momentum with Monday’s speech and an ambitious set of legislative plans to be set out in a speech Wednesday by King Charles III at the State Opening of Parliament.

A key policy is closer ties with the EU, which the United Kingdom left in 2020, four years after the "leave” side narrowly won a membership referendum. Starmer’s government has already moved to ease some of the trade restrictions that have burdened British businesses since Brexit, and he says he will secure a youth mobility deal so young people can spend a few years working across the continent.