Labour snubbed an EU defence deal that even ardent Brexiteers would have jumped at, says ALEX BRUMMER

The effort by Rachel Reeves and Labour to seek closer alignment with the EU as the solution to Britain’s growth deficit is desperate.

Brexit may no longer be as popular with citizens as a decade ago but governments cannot simply wish away a democratic mandate.

Importantly, as conflict rages in Ukraine and the Middle East – two not unconnected theatres – Britain is frozen out of potentially the most lucrative and fastest growing area of European commerce.

Recent data from Eurostat shows all is moribund on the European manufacturing front except for defence.

Britain through Rolls-Royce, BAE Systems and a cluster of companies with expertise in avionics, sonic defences, flight refuelling, rocketry and drone destroyers is in a terrific place to take advantage of soaring military budgets.

The Chancellor has revived talks of ‘securonomics’. But Energy Secretary Ed Miliband’s green zealotry has left the UK defenceless when it comes to reliable energy supplies.

In demand: Recent data from Eurostat shows all is moribund on the European manufacturing front except for defence

Moreover, Labour’s priorities – pouring money into the NHS and paralysis on surging welfare spending – mean domestic funding for military spending is limited. Contrast this with what is happening across the Channel.

Eurostat data shows industrial output, such as chemicals, in a nosedive. In contrast, output of weaponry and ammunition rose 78 per cent in the year to January 2026.

This is the golden nugget which the Government has failed to bite. As part of the May 2025 Security and Defence Partnership the UK expected to gain access to Europe’s €150billion (£129billion) defence fund.

The Government later decided that the entrance fee of up to €6billion (£5.2billion) was too high a price.

Yet this is a European programme which even ardent Brexiteers could safely buy into without kicking up dust.

Techie takeover

My former employer The Guardian gleefully reports that the next director general of the BBC will be former Google executive Matt Brittin.

It is understandable that in an age of streaming, where events such as the Oscar ceremony are moving to YouTube, savvy social media experience will be a big plus.

Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy is pledging a spring-clean of the BBC’s board to bring an end to political appointees. Quite how the selection of Brittin would square with that is difficult to understand.

He currently sits as a non-executive on the board of Guardian Media Group, which has come under bitter fire this week over the use of anti-Semitic and anti-Zionist tropes by sportswriter Jonathan Liew in an article on a Gail’s bakery opening in London. It has since been re-edited online.

What the BBC and the Government should recognise is that Google owner Alphabet is not the perfect corporate citizen despite its inward investment in Britain. 

In the manner of other tech giants, it escapes relatively easily from UK taxation although its contribution has gone up in recent times.

As seriously, the way it layers searches on its systems has been subject to regulatory scrutiny across the globe. 

The Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) is examining whether it has used material from publishers and creators without proper consent or compensation.

Doubtless Brittin is a fine chap who is described as a great Dr Who fan. But like the CMA chairman Doug Gurr, an Amazon emigre, his Silicon Valley background does not inspire confidence.

What next? A Palantir executive to run the NHS? A Nvidia chief to be chairman of the UK Statistics Authority?

Peer pressure

The House of Lords has delivered a

stunning rebuke to the Chancellor over plans to assume powers to override pension fund trustees to mandate how assets are invested.

In the Mansion House Accord some 17 of the UK’s biggest pension providers agreed to invest a proportion of funds in unlisted firms and global investments.

Rachel Reeves and the Treasury wanted the freedom to direct savers’ funds into infrastructure and potentially unsafe private equity projects.

The campaign against Government dictate has been powered by former pensions minister Baroness Altmann. MPs have the final say. They should listen to wise peers with deep-rooted knowledge of finance.