<figure id="attachment_3227782" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-3227782" style="width: 1600px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><img loading="lazy" class="size-full wp-image-3227782" src="https://media.freemalaysiatoday.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/12/dd15a189-starmer-x-steinmeier-04122025.webp" alt="" width="1600" height="1000" /><figcaption id="caption-attachment-3227782" class="wp-caption-text">Britain’s Prime Minister Keir Starmer greets German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier at Number 10 Downing Street in London. (EPA Images pic)</figcaption></figure>
LONDON: Britain and the EU must repair relations damaged by Brexit, German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier told UK MPs Thursday, drawing a parallel with the reunion of the famously warring Oasis brothers.
Speaking in the royal gallery on the second day of a three-day state visit, the first by a German head of state in 27 years, Steinmeier said after Brexit people were &#8220;disappointed and sometimes unable to understand the decision&#8221; and there was &#8220;a feeling of uncertainty.&#8221;
But both sides had decided &#8220;not to stay stuck in these feelings,&#8221; he said, speaking in English.
&#8220;Don&#8217;t Look Back in Anger, as one of the most famous songs by Oasis puts it so well,&#8221; he told MPs. &#8220;If you don&#8217;t mind my saying so, I think that is typically British. Keep calm and carry on – look ahead pragmatically, move on.&#8221;
He returned to the metaphor at the end of the speech, describing how the reunion between Liam and Noel Gallagher this year after 16 years apart and their sold-out Oasis tour created &#8220;the greatest pop event of the past decade&#8221;.
&#8220;Cool Britannia is alive! Our relations may have changed, but, my dear Britons, our love remains,&#8221; he said.
&#8220;So let us look not to the past, but rather together to the future.&#8221;
Closer ties 
Steinmeier highlighted the Kensington Treaty signed between Germany and the UK in July, marking closer security and defence cooperation.
He also pointed to the first EU-UK summit since Brexit in May, which aimed to reduce trade barriers.
Concrete projects include a German-British electricity interconnector due in 2028 and plans for youth mobility agreements to ease obstacles for students, he said.
&#8220;Yes, Brexit has created obstacles,&#8221; Steinmeier said. &#8220;We need to change this. And we are working on it.&#8221;
The renewed focus on UK-European ties comes after Russia&#8217;s February 2022 invasion of Ukraine, which sparked the continent&#8217;s largest land war since World War II.
&#8220;We are seeing the resurgence of imperial ambitions, the attempt by destabilising forces to divide us and pit us against one another. And that is precisely why we must stand united,&#8221; Steinmeier said, noting that the UK, Germany and France have worked closely together on Ukraine policy.
Steinmeier&#8217;s state visit follows his British counterpart King Charles III&#8217;s to Germany in March 2023, his first overseas trip as monarch and the first by a British monarch in over a decade.
On Wednesday, Charles hosted Steinmeier at a banquet at Windsor Castle, where both hailed their countries&#8217; deep ties.
The visit will continue on Friday in Coventry, which was heavily bombed in World War II, where both British and German air force personnel will participate in a remembrance ceremony.

MatchPoint Times

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