Vice grip: Keir Starmer and Donald Trump shake hands during a joint press conference at the White House on Thursday © CNSphoto/Alamy Stock Photo
Starmer proved himself a charmer as he came away from his highly anticipated meeting with President Trump with an unexpected range of concessions. The Prime Minister flew to Washington with the small task of persuading the mercurial leader of the free world (no comment) to maintain support for Ukraine, remain a committed member of NATO and not impose sweeping tariffs on the UK. Although Trump proved recalcitrant on European defence and refused to commit to a ‘backstop’ of US forces in a potential peacekeeping operation in Ukraine, he appeared to soften on his criticism of President Zelensky, including with a dose of wilful amnesia over whether he had called him a dictator (he did, just nine days ago); and committed himself to NATO’s Article 5 which considers ‘an attack against one’ as ‘an attack against all.’ The PM also walked away from the meeting with Trump’s suggestion of a “real trade deal where the tariffs aren’t necessary”, his tacit support for the under-fire Chagos Islands deal, and praise for his premiership (and his wife’s beauty) – and all it cost him was a ‘unprecedented’ second state visit for the President to the UK. Starmer will have to wait before he can celebrate these victories though: Zelenskyy will meet the President in Washington today before the Prime Minister convenes a summit of European leaders on Sunday to discuss the continent’s defence woes. We’re not out of the woods yet.
International development fans were less charmed with the Prime Minister when he suddenly announced that an increase in defence spending to 2.5% of GDP by 2027 (alongside an “ambition” to reach 3% in the next parliament) would be funded by slashing the overseas aid budget. The decision, which Starmer said he made with some regret, will have helped mollify Trump (who has demanded NATO members spend more on defence) and reflects how seriously the threat facing Europe has developed. Although many stated their opposition to the aid cuts, most political reaction acknowledged the uplift is necessary, with many arguing that the outcome of the war in Ukraine and Russia’s long-term level of belligerence vis-à-vis Europe might mean future increases will be required. There was still political fallout, however: Defence Secretary John Healey was swiftly dispatched to a meeting of Labour backbenchers to keep them onside, and in the last few hours, Anneliese Dodds resigned from her position as International Development Minister, stating the aid cuts will have deep ramifications for the world’s poorest.
As part of our series taking a closer look at the membership and experience of Parliament’s all important select committees, the Navigate team have this week taken the microscope to the Environmental Audit Committee…
Launching into action since reforming in October last year, the committee has kicked off a series of inquiries into the green economy, sustainability of housing growth, the Antarctic, flood resilience and the marine environment.
Click here to download a full copy of our briefing via our website, and get in touch if you’d like to discuss our monitoring expertise in the environmental and sustainability arenas.
£6bn – rise in defence spending in real terms Defence Sec John Healey admitted will actually take place, after the PM claimed defence spending would rise by £13.4bn by 2027.
13.4% – number of young people not in work, education or training at the end of 2024 – higher than at any point in the past 11 years.
1.51 million – individuals formally dealt with by the Criminal Justice System in the year to September 2024 – an increase of 4% year-on-year.
2.8% – rise in UK household costs in 2024… but as high as 3.9% for private renter households.
£1m – amount Beavers in the Czech Republic saved taxpayers by completing a planned river dam on their own (DOGE take note)
912 – number of electric vehicle charging points added to the UK network in January. In order to meet the 300,000 by 2030 target, the Government need to speed this up by four-fold.
In what has probably been the most news-heavy week since Labour came to power back in July…
The long-awaited Crime and Policing Bill was introduced to Parliament, with this wide-reaching Bill to provide new powers to the police in areas including knife crime, violence against women and girls, cybercrime, child sexual abuse, phone theft, and terrorism. Home Secretary Yvette Cooper said it was about “taking back our streets and town centres, [and] restoring respect for law and order”.
Airport expansion was back on the agenda, as Transport Secretary Heidi Alexander issued a ‘minded to approve’ letter for proposals to allow the Northern Runway at Gatwick Airport to be brought into use. While outright approval has been delayed, with the deadline for the final decision in October 2025, it signals the Government’s support so long as conditions related to noise and public transport are met.
Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch’s speech on Tuesday morning was blown out the water hours later, as the defence spending announcement overshadowed her calls for… defence spending to increase at the potential expense of… Overseas Development Aid. In the speech on foreign policy, Badenoch also suggested the UK may have to leave the ECHR, outlined that she was a ‘conservative realist’, and emphasised the need for the UK to ‘redefine its national interest’.
All 58 recommendations from Phase 2 of the Grenfell Inquiry have been accepted by the Government, with plans set out to act on each of them. Notable reforms include the creation of a single construction regulator, creating a publicly accessible record of all public inquiry recommendations, and introducing tougher oversight on the testing and certifying of construction products. Debarment investigations have also been launched into seven organisations named in the report.
Local plans will be made quicker, clearer and simpler as the Government announced plans to overhaul the system and introduce a ‘clear expectation’ that they’ll be made within two-and-a-half-years as opposed to the average seven years currently. 133 local authorities have been given £70,000 to help them carry out a review of the greenbelt, with £14m in total available to support councils in updating their local plans.
Chancellor Rachel Reeves jetted off to South Africa to hold talks with G20 Finance Ministers and Central Bank Governors. Discussions largely focused on defence and infrastructure, while Reeves also emphasised to those present that ‘free trade is the best way to achieve economic growth internationally’.
Business and Trade Secretary Jonathan Reynolds was also in a different continent, as he relaunched UK-India trade talks. Two days of ‘focused discussions’ were held, with Investment Minister Baroness Gustafsson also in India to address investors.
Steve Reed was faced by protests as he delivered a speech at the National Farmers’ Union Conference. The Environment Secretary was interrupted by farmers protesting changes to agricultural inheritance tax, as he acknowledged the “strength of feeling in the room”. That morning he had unveiled a raft of new policies seeking to get farmers onside, such as extending the Seasonal Worker visa route for five years and announcing funding for the Farming Innovation Programme and Farming Equipment and Technology Fund.
The London Growth Plan was published, as Mayor Sadiq Khan set out plans to grow London’s economy by £107bn by 2035 and create over 150,000 jobs by 2028. Actions in the plan included: launching a new fund to provide loan and equity funding for high-growth SMEs and investing in sectors such as AI and clean tech; delivering more affordable housing and infrastructure; and publishing a London Infrastructure Framework this year.
Plans to tackle digital exclusion have been launched as the Government published a new Digital Inclusion Action Plan. This includes funding for local initiatives targeted to the most digitally-excluded groups, and a partnership with the Digital Poverty Alliance to provide laptops to people who are digitally excluded.
750 schools will be hosting free breakfast clubs from April, with these ‘early adopter’ schools to shape the future of the national breakfast club policy. The schools are across all nine regions of the UK, with around 67,000 of the 180,000 children set to benefit first attending schools in deprived areas.
A new deal has been agreed by the Government and the British Medical Association, with reforms to GP contracts set to be introduced. The new contract will require GP surgeries to allow patients to request appointments online throughout working hours from October, potentially ending the ‘8am scramble for appointments’. The reforms are backed by an extra £889m, a 7.2% increase to the GP contract…
…and also in health, NHS England Chief Executive Amanda Pritchard announced that she was standing down, with the Government looking for a new relationship between the Department for Health and Social Care and NHS England.
Mike Amesbury served three nights in jail after a ten-week sentence for assaulting a constituent, later reduced to a suspended sentence on appeal. This allows a recall petition to be held, triggering a by-election if 10% of voters in Runcorn and Helsby sign it. The former Labour MP won the constituency with a majority of nearly 15,000 in July, with Reform UK finishing in second.
Easing their way back into work, two Bills were considered in the Commons as the Crown Estates Bill had its remaining stages and the Institute for Apprenticeships and Technical Education (Transfer of Functions etc) Bill had its second reading. The Conservative Party held two Opposition Day Debates, focusing on issues around family businesses and the British Indian Ocean Territory. Other topics debated this week included the economic contribution of non-league football clubs, child maintenance service, the economic contribution of Doncaster Sheffield Airport, and the impact of bank closures in rural areas.
The Lords had a slightly more productive legislative-focused week, as the Mental Health Bill finished up in Committee, the Great British Energy Bill had its third reading, and the National Insurance Contributions (Secondary Class 1 Contributions) Bill and Product Regulation and Metrology Bill were both in report stage. They also held debates on the progress of the Post Office Horizon compensation scheme, reducing the number of British citizens being held by the Iranian regime, and the law relating to prenuptial agreements.
Access to GP appointments is at the top of the public’s priority list when it comes to NHS reform, according to the latest polling by Ipsos and the Health Foundation, with 38% of those polled putting this as a priority. This was followed by improving waiting times in A and E, reducing the number of staff leaving by improving working conditions and reducing waste. In some good news for Labour, the poll (undertaken in November 2024) concluded a more positive outlook on the NHS than the one prior (in May 2024) as the public were less negative about the health service, were less likely to think that the standard of care had decreased over the last 12 months, and were more likely to think that their local NHS is providing them a good service.
It’s the rise of the far left in YouGov’s latest poll, which assesses the reasons why 21% of Britons have said they would consider voting for the Green Party. Unsurprisingly, the most common draw for the Party is their stance on the climate agenda, with half of those surveyed stating that this is the main reason for considering the Greens. However, other factors, such as their left-wing ideology (particularly for those who are left-leaning but disappointed by Labour); the Party’s Social Responsibility; and the Party’s distinctiveness away from the mainstream parties polled as reasons for the vote.
UK child poverty will rise over this Parliament from an estimated 31% in 2024-25 to reach 33% by 2029-30 – so concluded the Resolution Foundation’s recent report. The report recommended that the Government abolish the two-child limit and the benefit cap alongside it, stating that this would cost £4.5bn in 2029-30 but “would be the most efficient anti-poverty measure”. Alongside this, it called for the free school meal entitlement to cover all families on Universal Credit, taking 100,000 children out of poverty.
Keir Starmer arrived back in London today after forming an unlikely bromance with Donald Trump. The leaders appeared to hit it off as soon as Starmer arrived at the White House, with Trump complimenting his suit and admiring his “beautiful accent” during a press conference, saying he would have been elected 20 years ago if he had Starmer’s accent. The praise was reciprocated as Starmer presented Trump with a letter from King Charles inviting him for a second state visit, noting that his last state visit was a “tremendous success” as he awaited Trump’s response – to which he replied yes. Gifts were also exchanged, with the PM gifting the keen golfer a family tartan golf cap and Downing Street golf balls after receiving a US football shirt with number 10 on the back. Trump will be joining Starmer at the Emirates Stadium next…
