Good morning. Keir Starmer is back in the UK and, in the unlikely event that he goes into a newsagent’s this morning, he will find that his meeting with President Trump in the White House has secured him perhaps the most favourable press coverage he has had since the general election. Gloria De Piero, the broadcaster and former Labour MP, has the headlines laid out here.
A joyful set of front pages for the PM. I love to see it. pic.twitter.com/EkoV3VrbhS. Of course, the success of a government should never be judged by what the national newspapers are saying about it (few other performance indicators are less reliable), but after months of relentlessly critical press coverage, Starmer will be grateful for a spot of respite.
Wes Streeting, the health secretary, has been giving interviews this morning and he told BBC Breakfast that the Starmer/Trump meeting was a “spectacular success”. He explained:. I thought that the meeting yesterday was a spectacular success both on the defence and security issues that President Trump and our prime minister were discussing but also on the enthusiasm President Trump showed for a deeper trading relationship.
Starmer helped to ensure that the visit went well by offering Trump an unprecedented second state visit to the UK. Theresa May offered a state visit when she visited Trump in 2017 and on GB News this morning Streeting was reminded that, after the May invitation, he was one of many people who signed an online petition saying the state visit should be called off. He “definitely” won’t be doing that again, he assured the programme.
Even Kemi Badenoch, the Conservative party leader, has had something good to say about the visit, admitting it secured some “positive outcomes”. But a statement she released late last night indirectly confirmed the result has been disappointing for her party. “Trump snubs Badenoch” is not the headline anyone was writing last night, but for CCHQ it is probably the takeaway that matters. The Tories have recently starting using the attack line that “when [Stamer] negotiates Britain loses”. Last night that went up in smoke, as Starmer’s negotiating skills got extravagant praise from Mr Art of the Deal himself. And on Wednesday the Conservative party explicitly said it wanted Trump to block the government’s Chagos Islands deal. Yesterday Trump did the opposite, signalling that he is inclined to approve it.
In her tweet last night Badenoch said the Tories will continue to oppose it. In my first PMQs, I called for:. - 2.5% of GDP on defence ✅. - A Trump visit ✅. - Restarting the UK-US FTA that President Biden paused ✅. These are positive outcomes. BUT…. The President’s words on the Chagos deal aren’t a guarantee it serves *our* national interest—or UK….
The President’s words on the Chagos deal aren’t a guarantee it serves *our* national interest—or UK taxpayers. We haven’t seen the final terms of a deal, but we mustn’t foot the bill for surrendering territory the UK already holds. But with Trump apparently on side, Starmer will find it much easier to persuade parliament, and the public, that the deal is in the national interest. What until yesterday was a strong campaigning issue for the Tories has now lost quite a lot of its potency.
Here is Pippa Crerar’s story about the White House talks. And you can read a comprehensive account on yesterday’s blog. There will be more reaction throughout the day. Here is what is coming up. 11.30am: Downing Street holds a lobby briefing. 11.55am: Angela Rayner, the deputy PM, speaks at the Convention of the North in Preston.
12.30pm: Rachel Reeves, the chancellor, Jonathan Reynolds, the business secretary, and John Healey, the defence secretary, hold a roundtable meeting with the defence sector. If you want to contact me, please post a message below the line or message me on social media. I can’t read all the messages BTL, but if you put “Andrew” in a message aimed at me, I am more likely to see it because I search for posts containing that word.
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