Survey finds 63% of Britons prioritise EU over US relationship

European defence spending shifts away from US weapons

UK public opinion has shifted strongly toward closer ties with Europe, according to a June survey by the European Council on Foreign Relations cited by Guardian columnist Jonathan Freedland. The survey found that 63% of Britons would prioritise the relationship with the EU over the US, while only 19% chose the opposite. Three-quarters of respondents wanted a closer relationship with the EU overall, and a plurality favoured creating a European army with British troops.

The results arrive as Prime Minister Andy Burnham settles into office with strong early support. His net approval rating has risen 17 points, according to one early poll cited by Freedland, gaining ground with every category of voter except supporters of Reform UK.

European allies are already accelerating joint defence integration that could reshape the UK’s security landscape. The EU’s Safe loan programme is funding joint defence procurement to the tune of €150bn (£128bn), Freedland wrote, alongside the EU’s efforts to arm Ukraine. “The EU is becoming a security community,” Mark Leonard, director of the European Council on Foreign Relations, told Freedland, citing joint EU action on energy, vaccines, cybersecurity, election interference, the climate crisis, and immigration.

The economic dimension extends beyond defence. Berlin has decided to spend only 8% of its €80bn rearmament drive on US weapons, Freedland noted, as the EU moves toward a “buy European” procurement approach. Mark Carney of Canada diagnosed at Davos that globalisation and economic interdependence can be turned into a weapon — through US tariffs or Chinese control of rare earth metals — underscoring the vulnerability of nations dependent on single major powers, Freedland wrote.

Freedland argued that the foundation of postwar UK foreign policy — reliance on the US as a security guarantor — is no longer stable. He cited Trump’s public musings about abandoning NATO, his threat to seize Greenland from NATO ally Denmark, and his inconsistent support for Ukraine. The columnist wrote that even senior US administration officials privately acknowledge they have limited influence over Trump’s decisions, and argued that a British prime minister would fare no better.

Freedland noted that national security adviser Jonathan Powell is in regular contact with Trump’s personal envoy Steve Witkoff, but wrote that such access does not constitute influence.

Trump announced what he described as a breakthrough in Gaza, saying Hamas was ready to disarm in exchange for an Israeli withdrawal from the territory. Al Jazeera reported “scepticism and cautiousness among Palestinians” in response, according to Freedland.

Freedland argued that the remedy is not to try to change Trump but to reduce the UK’s exposure to his decisions. He wrote that Burnham should acknowledge the limits of the Atlanticist alliance and pursue closer military and economic integration with European neighbours who have already reached similar conclusions about reducing reliance on Washington.