Color Scheme

Liz Webster: Big ruling in USA...

🔥 Big ruling in USA. US Supreme Court blocks Trump from scrapping birthright citizenship by executive order. In the UK, Starmer has shown far less restraint, stripping Shamima Begum of citizenship and repeatedly abusing executive power to withhold Mandelson documents and block scrutiny. Reform and the Tories love talking tough on citizenship. They should note how easily executives overreach when there are no real checks.

Deborah Haynes: Sir Keir Starmer's determination to...

🚨Sir Keir Starmer's determination to release a long-delayed defence investment plan ahead of a NATO summit next month risks doing more harm than good as officials scramble to meet what has become a political deadline. The UK's allies are increasingly concerned at a failure by the government to rearm at pace, despite the prime minister declaring "hard power is the currency of the age". Publishing the defence funding blueprint before Sir Keir meets with Donald Trump and other NATO leaders in Turkey on 7 and 8 July was meant to be a way of allaying such fears. But, rather than reassuring allies, such a move risks having the reverse effect if Britain fails to set out a credible plan to transform the armed forces from hollowed out to fighting ready. In a worrying sign, officials at the Ministry of Defence are scrambling to rush through tweaks to the defence investment plan after John Healey and Al Carns resigned a fortnight ago as defence secretary and armed forces minister respectively. The pair quit in protest at a failure by Sir Keir and his chancellor to fund the original plan properly. Mr Carns also criticised its content for not focusing on the right kit, with too much emphasis on large, expensive, legacy programmes such as fast jets, warships and submarines instead of cheap, disposable drones that have transformed the battlefield in Ukraine. Dan Jarvis, the new defence secretary, has said he is now working hard to secure the "right" deal for the military and to release the defence investment plan before the Ankara summit. However, this politically dictated timeline could result in a poor outcome for the armed forces, especially if any announcement is ultimately yet more decline dressed up as reprioritised investment, with choices dictated by fiscal constraint rather than what is needed. The fact Sir Keir himself is only going to be in office for a few more weeks only adds to the lack of credibility and seriousness about what should be the top priority for any government. None of this will impress fellow member states in NATO. Most importantly, when it comes to the alliance, the headline metric that countries are judged on - as faulty and fudged as it can be - is defence spending as a proportion of GDP. Allies, with the exception of Spain, committed last year to lifting this ratio to 3.5% of GDP by 2035 - an unambitious timeline advocated by the prime minister and Rachel Reeves even though countries such as the Baltic states wanted to go much faster, and are already doing so. Underlying the incoherency of this distant timeframe is the fact that much of NATO, including Britain, is saying the alliance needs to be ready for possible war with Russia by 2030 - five years before they agreed to hit the new defence spending baseline. This mismatch between threat and investment is why Mr Healey, the previous defence secretary, could no longer support the prime minister's plan for the UK's armed forces as it would only raise the defence budget to 2.68% of GDP by 2030 from around 2.3% now. He had instead been pushing to increase the level to 3% of GDP within four years followed by a clear path to move on to 3.5% by 2035 (or sooner). This would unlock tens of billions of pounds of additional money for the military at the speed of relevance. But the Treasury baulked and the rest is history. What NATO really needs to see from the UK - a country that prides itself as being a leading member of the alliance - is a credible trajectory for when it will actually hit the new spending targets and be ready to fight a war. And that is no longer in Sir Keir's gift.

Ben Judah: We’ve heard a lot about what Keir...

We’ve heard a lot about what Keir Starmer got wrong. We’ve heard less that he got unlucky. Donald Trump has played a big role in derailing his premiership. 1️⃣ Trump’s return fuelled a surge in support for right wing populism. Reform was at 19% on November 4th 2024. By his inauguration they were at 25% and neck and neck with Labour. In between: non-stop media coverage of Trump’s agenda. 2️⃣ Trump’s victory emboldened Musk who incessantly attacked Starmer over grooming gangs and promoted far right accounts, memes and politicians such as Rupert Lowe through his algorithm. Since then the X and Facebook algorithm have rewarded right wing political content since has fuelled the loathing of Starmer. 3️⃣ Trump’s win turned Net Zero from a common Western cause championed by the White House with major cross-party support in the UK into a wedge issue. This opened the way for right wing media and politics to crusade against Net Zero as a Labour eccentricity. 4️⃣ Trump’s interventions in UK politics to humiliate the Prime Minister over his issues from Net Zero to immigration hurt. Not to mention the painful images of Starmer’s interactions with him as he pursued British interests. These genuinely weakened his authority as the Greens hoovered up disgruntled progressives. 5️⃣ Trump made the world economy worse from his misconceived tariffs to his Hormuz-blocking war on Iran, knocking out the green shoots of better growth. This has together brought higher inflation, more expensive gilts and lower growth than had the Democrats won. ▶️ Starmer’s political mistake was not to pivot. This should have happened when JD Vance upbraided Zelensky in the White House and brought in a freeze of military aid on Ukraine. When Zelensky flew to London afterwards to seek the embrace of his closest ally — the UK — it was a top most watched moment of the year. ▶️ Starmer should have addressed the nation like a war leader and announced though we remained allied with the US we had heard loud and clear they expected us to be able to face Russia alone and that we must now prepare for such a war. ▶️ Starmer should have announced a war readiness package of higher taxes on the super rich and ending the triple lock to pay for rearmament. He should have said a trade war was becoming and he was immediately restarting talks with the EU to forge a “customs alliance” that would see us rejoin their customs union to prepare for a tariffs war. At that moment the media would have clapped and so would the PLP. ▶️ But the pivot never came. And that is a warning to Andy Burnham as he takes over Number 10. More on what he should do next to deal with Trump on @ArguablyMag .

Kathy Gyngell: Did you hear Keir's resignation...

Did you hear Keir's resignation speech? 2 years of glorious social and economic regeneration? Hmmm you could have fooled me, @Keir_Starmer . Yet for some astonishing, unfathomable reason, the Parliamentary Labour Party want rid of their heroic leader. http://conservativewoman.co.uk/delusional-to-the-death-starmers-resignation-speech-proved-why-he-had-to-go/ http://conservativewoman.co.uk/delusional-to-the-death-starmers-resignation-speech-proved-why-he-had-to-go/

Bushra Shaikh: Keir Starmer's resignation is the...

Keir Starmer's resignation is the right decision for Labour. While I've often disagreed with him, he deserves credit for stepping aside with dignity and grace. He may not have been the best Prime Minister, but he certainly wasn't the worst. His real weakness was that he never seemed like the leader required for a country grappling with the rise of far-right narratives and increasingly divisive politics. At the moment, Andy Burnham appears to be the clear favourite to succeed him, with strong support among both Labour members and the wider public. Whoever takes over must be bold, courageous and prepared to confront the hatred, scapegoating and division that have become far too normal in our political discourse. The next Labour leader cannot afford to be timid. The moment demands conviction.

June Slater: These journalists need to pack...

These journalists need to pack up feeling sorry for Starmer! A grown man crying for himself because his ambition to be the one to lead us toward a communist style future has failed. He crushed so many lives , jailed people for free speech easily using Tory legislation. He's crippling households and Industry by listening to Lord Dipstick Ed Milliband and crushing net zero He spent more time overseas than in number 10 A selfish man who cried for himself . Man up !
Read more