Foreign Office advises people to take next available flight as it tries to secure seats amid escalating violence
British nationals in Lebanon have been urged to leave the country immediately as the violence escalates between Israel and Hezbollah.
The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO) said on Friday night that British nationals in Lebanon should leave on the next available flight.
Continue reading...PM hopes to work more closely on defence, borders and trade with EU as he sets meeting with von der Leyen
Keir Starmer has said a new relationship with the European Union will not be easy “but is possible” before a meeting with Ursula von der Leyen next week, as he set out defence, borders and trade as areas where he hopes for improvement.
The prime minister spoke of his hopes for a reset and did not rule out accepting an EU proposal for greater youth mobility – including easier travel, study and work for under 30s.
Continue reading...The PM and foreign secretary David Lammy met with the Republican candidate, but were not able to schedule a meeting with Kamala Harris
Keir Starmer has met Donald Trump for a two-hour dinner in New York, as he sought to establish a good relationship with the Republican presidential candidate.
The prime minister was accompanied by his foreign secretary David Lammy, who described Trump as a neo-Nazi sympathiser in 2018 but has since said he would work with him in office.
Continue reading...Yemen government vice-chair fears strikes intended to end shipping chaos are instead helping Houthis rally support
US-UK airstrikes in Yemen designed to end the Houthi disruption of commercial shipping have not seriously degraded the group’s military capability, the vice-chair of the UN-recognised government in Yemen has said.
Aidarous al-Zubaidi told the Guardian in an interview he feared the Houthis were using the strikes to rally support behind their cause by portraying the west as the aggressor in Yemen.
Continue reading...Officials warn repeat of Tory rejection could dent new government’s hopes of pacts on defence and agriculture
Fresh proposals to allow young people to move between the UK and the EU will be presented to the British government within weeks, in what is seen as a key early test of Labour’s “reset” in relations with Brussels.
Informed sources say the first draft of a new version of Ursula von der Leyen’s April proposal has already been discussed by member states and will be put to a working group in Brussels next week.
Continue reading...Officials trying to avoid repeat of Afghan chaos as Israel strikes and foreign secretary tells UK nationals to leave
David Lammy chaired a Cobra meeting to discuss preparations to evacuate remaining Britons from Lebanon, having already urged UK nationals to leave the country amid hostilities with Israel.
The foreign secretary led meetings in Whitehall on Friday as officials try to avoid a repeat of the chaos in which British people scrambled to leave Afghanistan when the Taliban took over in 2021.
Continue reading...European Centre for International Political Economy outlines a plan to bring the two sides closer
The UK must stop being “naive” about negotiations to reset relations with the EU and show more flexibility in its approach to Brussels, a trade policy thinktank has said.
As EU leaders question how much has changed in the UK despite the new government, the European Centre for International Political Economy (ECIPE) has outlined a plan to bring the two sides closer after a series of reports that the EU doubted Keir Starmer’s commitment to a reset.
Continue reading...Britain promises to send £4m to back Italian crackdown on irregular migration
Keir Starmer has shown “great interest” in the Italy-Albania migration deal, the Italian prime minister, Giorgia Meloni, has said, as the UK vowed to send £4m to support her controversial crackdown on irregular migration.
Speaking at a press conference in Rome, the prime minister agreed with Meloni, stressing the importance of the relationship betwen the UK and Italy.
Continue reading...Some Labourites may see a hard-right populist but the British PM has an eye on the immigration policies of an ally
Keir Starmer will be under no illusions at the level of discomfort some in his party may have felt at the sight of their leader smiling and joking with Giorgia Meloni as they strolled through the gardens of the Villa Doria Pamphili on his trip to Rome on Monday.
The Italian prime minister’s brand of hard-right populism is far out of the comfort zone of many Labour MPs, and even though she governs, for the most part, from the centre-right, they are unable to shrug off her party’s neo-fascist roots.
Continue reading...Backbenchers and NGOs criticise decision to explore how country has cut migrant numbers at Rome talks
Keir Starmer is under pressure from Labour backbenchers and NGOs to distance his government from Giorgia Meloni’s hard-right immigration policies on the eve of bilateral talks in Rome.
After the UK foreign secretary, David Lammy, said the UK would consider copying Italy’s plans to process asylum applicants in a third country such as Albania, one backbencher questioned why a Labour administration was “seeking to learn lessons from a neo-fascist government”.
Continue reading...International reaction muted over Russia’s warning about allowing Kyiv to strike it with western-made missiles
European leaders have dismissed Vladimir Putin’s warning that the west would be directly fighting Russia if it allowed Kyiv to strike Russian territory with western-made long-range missiles.
The US and UK are discussing, in conjunction with other allies, allowing Kyiv to strike military targets inside Russia with Storm Shadow missiles, which can hit targets up to 155 miles (250km) from their launch site.
Continue reading...UK PM responds to Putin’s threat that use of long-range British missiles inside Russia would put it at war with Nato
Keir Starmer has told Vladimir Putin that he started the war in Ukraine and could end it at any time after the Russian leader warned that any use of long-range British missiles into Russian territory would put Nato at war with his country.
The prime minister spoke en route to Washington to see US president Joe Biden as he sought to justify a western decision made behind closed doors that would allow Ukraine to attack inside Russia with partly British-made Storm Shadow missiles.
Continue reading...Decision understood to have already been made in private as secretary of state says in Kyiv that US will continue to adapt policy
The US secretary of state, Antony Blinken, gave his strongest hint yet that the White House is about to lift its restrictions on Ukraine using long-range weapons supplied by the west on key military targets inside Russia, with a decision understood to have already been made in private.
Speaking in Kyiv alongside the UK foreign secretary, David Lammy, Blinken said the US had “from day one” been willing to adapt its policy as the situation on the battlefield in Ukraine changed. “We will continue to do this,” he emphasised.
Continue reading...Antony Blinken to meet David Lammy in precursor to Joe Biden’s talks with Keir Starmer in Washington
Moscow’s use of a shadow fleet transporting western-sanctioned oil, Ukraine’s call to fire to fire UK-supplied missiles into Russia, and the value of publishing a new version of the US ceasefire plan for Gaza will top US-UK talks in London being attended by Antony Blinken, the US secretary of state.
His meeting this week with the British foreign secretary, David Lammy, will make him the most senior US official to visit the UK since Labour’s general election victory in July. It is also a precursor to talks in Washington between Joe Biden and Keir Starmer at the end of the week.
Continue reading...As documents reveal EU ‘not prepared’ to change, Keir Starmer is reminded of Labour’s manifesto pledge
Industry insiders have urged the UK government to find a solution to post-Brexit restrictions on live music touring, after EU documents suggested Brussels was “not prepared” to change regulations.
In Labour’s manifesto, Keir Starmer pledged to improve trade and investment relations with the EU to “help our touring artists” . Since Brexit, musicians touring the EU have faced barriers introduced in the EU-UK Trade and Cooperation Agreement (TCA). They can work up to 90 out of every 180 days, which causes problems for longer tours, musicians who work in multiple bands or orchestras, and crew required on site before and after performances.
Continue reading...Starmer to hold talks with Irish counterpart on first official visit of a British PM to country for five years
Keir Starmer has said he believes there can be a “deep” reset of relations with Ireland after arriving in Dublin for his first official visit, with Northern Ireland, Brexit and joint international interests on the agenda.
It is the first official visit of a British prime minister since Boris Johnson visited in 2019 to try to salvage a Brexit deal after years of strained relations.
Continue reading...Ireland’s deputy PM welcomes warmer relations as Keir Starmer arrives for official visit – but cautions UK cannot ‘cherrypick’ issues
The UK cannot have an “à la carte” reset of the Brexit agreement, Ireland’s deputy prime minister has said, just hours before Keir Starmer headed to Dublin for his first official visit to Ireland.
The tánaiste said the EU wanted an improved EU-UK relationship but that the UK could not “cherrypick”.
Continue reading...Owner of Ormiston Wire in London urges Keir Starmer not to forget small manufacturers in his dealings with EU
The head of a family-owned company that has made specialist wires and cables for six generations for clients ranging from naval vessels to film sets has blamed Brexit for shredding its business.
Mark Ormiston, the owner of Ormiston Wire, said small businesses such as his had been flushed “down the toilet” by the masterminds of Brexit who gave little thought to the real-life consequences for UK manufacturing.
Continue reading...Activists say Britain’s decision bolsters case for Congress to follow suit and may embolden opposition to Biden policy
The UK decision to suspend some arms exports to Israel has bolstered the case for Congress to follow the example of its ally, US campaigners for a ban have said.
The campaigners are pressing the US Senate and the house to pass a joint resolution of disapproval blocking authorisation for an unprecedented $20bn (£15.2bn) weapons sale. The massive transfer was notified to Congress last month when it was in recess.
Continue reading...Shona Robison, Scottish finance secretary, says current financial situation facing Scottish government is ‘not sustainable’
Tom Tugendhat, the former security minister, is launching his campaign for the Tory leadership. There is a live feed here.
Tugendhat started by saying that he did not actually want the job, because he does not want to be leader of the opposition. He wants to be prime minister, he said.
Politics is not a game, and we all know the cost when government isn’t sober and serious. We saw it in the lives lost in Afghanistan and then in that wasted chaos of that withdrawal. We saw it during Covid, not just in the lost years of education that cost so many or the opportunities missed, or even in the grief for lost loved ones or those left to cope alone, but through the disrespect.
That’s why I’m standing before you today, because this country can change. We must change, and Britain deserves better, and we need a different government.
Continue reading...