UK may join EU army after post-Brexit military pledge

MINISTERS were accused of “undermining Brexit” yesterday after pledging that British troops could continue to serve under EU military plans for decades.

A shock Whitehall document has outlined proposals for keeping the UK in a string of EU defence and security projects.

The offer was designed to improve the Government’s hand in the ongoing Brexit negotiations with Brussels.

But Eurosceptic campaigners claimed military personnel could now be sucked into the drive to build an EU army.

Colonel Richard Kemp, a former Army officer and leading member of the Veterans For Britain pressure group, said: “This shows the Government has lost control of this issue.

“The agenda is being driven by pro-Brussels officials in the Ministry of Defence, Foreign Office and Cabinet Office, who resent the idea we are leaving the EU and want as close a military relationship as possible.

“These proposals will undermine Nato. It is an attempt to undermine Brexit.”

Proposals for continuing military co-operation after Brexit were outlined in the latest of a series of papers setting out the Government’s negotiating position for the talks in Brussels.

The document promised a “deep security partnership with the EU after Brexit” in the face of growing global threats.

Britain will offer to contribute troops, warships, aircraft and other military assets on EU operations after Brexit, the paper said.

Ahead of the publication of the document, EU Exit Secretary David Davis said: “After we leave the EU we will continue to face shared threats to our security, our shared values and our way of life.

“It’s in our mutual interest to work closely with the EU and its member states to challenge terrorism and extremism, illegal migration, cyber-crime and conventional state-based military aggression.”

Defence Secretary Sir Michael Fallon added: “As we leave the EU, the UK and our European allies will ensure a close partnership that meets these shared challenges head-on.”

But Lib Dem Brexit spokesman Tom Brake said: “It is interesting how the Government now says the EU is central to Britain’s security needs.

“What a contrast to the EU referendum campaign, when leading figures in the current government claimed the EU played no role in our security,” he added.