Thanks for everyone who's replied so far, a lot to take into consideration.
I'm not hugely into cars so European brands seem overpriced, if you're into them for the love of cars then that makes sense but there doesn't seem to be a big benefit otherwise.
Reviewing most of the European, American, Aussie and Asian safety sites it seems like the Mazda MX-5/MX-30 are very similar from a safety perspective to Volvos and Mercedes of a similar size or the Range Rover Evoque which was also suggested. Subarus also seem to perform well in safety tests as does the CRV (although not quite up there with the Mazdas).
If the only option for a safe car was a European brand then I'd go for that but from research it doesn't seem like that's the case.