Keir Starmer vows to bring UK closer to EU amid calls for Brexit

LONDON: British Prime Minister Keir Starmer pledged on Monday to prove “doubters” wrong within his party and across the electorate as he sought to resist calls to step down after Labour’s local election results were undermined.Starmer said he would “face big challenges head-on” and restore hope to the country, in part by working with European UnionSix years after Britain’s acrimonious Brexit. “I know there are people who doubt me and I know I need to prove them wrong and I will,” Starmer said in a speech in London. He said Labor was “fighting for the soul of our country” and warned the country would be on “a dark path” if the anti-immigration party Reform Britain, led by Nigel Farage, came to power. Labor MP Catherine West has vowed to postpone the speech if it does not mark a major turning point, although she urged Starmer to resign before September. Dozens of other lawmakers also urged him to announce a departure date. Starmer hopes to regain momentum with an ambitious package of legislation set out in Monday’s speech and King Charles III’s speech at the opening of parliament on Wednesday. He announced plans to nationalize the remaining assets of the once-mighty British Steel Corporation, a move that could save some industrial jobs in areas where working-class voters have deserted Britain’s Reform Labor Party. Starmer also promised to put the UK “at the center of Europe” and build closer ties with the 27-nation EU. Farage is leading the movement Brexit campaign to oppose any move closer to the EU. ap