It can’t be coincidence that led Olaf Scholz and Emmanuel Macron to unveil their proposals for a new class of associate membership of the EU while Keir Starmer was visiting the latter in Paris. In the Labour leader, they are presumably hoping they will find a receptive ear. With a UK election due next year and Starmer the most likely victor, Britain might yet be caught again in the EU’s tractor beam before it has really had a chance to establish itself on an independent basis.