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British Prime Minister Andy Burnham has been presented with a proposal that would see the United Kingdom extend its nuclear deterrent across parts of Europe in exchange for rejoining the European Union's single market for goods, according to a report published Sunday by The Telegraph.
The plan, drawn up by former Conservative lawmaker Nick Boles, calls for Britain to spearhead the creation of a "European Confederation" that would link the EU's free-trade zone with NATO's collective defense commitments.
Under the proposal, Britain would commit to spending 3.5% of its gross domestic product on defense and would extend its nuclear umbrella, built around the Trident weapons system, to non-NATO countries currently outside its protection. Ukraine, Switzerland, Norway and the Western Balkan states would be invited to join the framework, the report said.
Trident is the UK's submarine-launched ballistic missile system and forms the backbone of Britain's nuclear deterrent, one of the world's declared nuclear arsenals alongside those of the United States, Russia, France and China.
In exchange, Britain would be offered entry into the EU's Single Market for goods, without being required to accept free movement of people or eurozone membership, two conditions that have long been central to Brussels' terms for market access.
Boles told The Telegraph that Europe needed a new cooperative strategy because there was no guarantee that President Donald Trump, or any future US president, would "defend Europe as if it were Kansas."
He argued that a purely bilateral approach between London and Brussels was unlikely to succeed. "If we're trying to do a bilateral negotiation in which we try to persuade the EU to have us have access to the single market for goods, we will fail," he said.
Boles, who has held several UK ministerial posts, suggested the proposal's chances would improve if it were framed as addressing broader European concerns, particularly Ukraine. "We can explain this isn't just a selfish British deal, it's a deal you can use to solve other problems yourselves," he said.
The Telegraph noted that former Prime Minister Keir Starmer had previously approached the EU with a proposal to secure British access to the single market for goods, but that Brussels rejected the bid, unwilling to grant the UK special treatment while it remained outside the bloc.
Separately, a government source told the newspaper that proposals were being drawn up on how UK-EU cooperation could be deepened further, with discussions expected to take place later this year.
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