Starmer has generally made a decent effort at holding back the nuts pro-Kremlin wing of his own party – and has so far navigated an apparently supportive policy on Ukraine. Over the weekend, however, Volodymyr Zelensky swiped hard at Starmer – saying British support was “slowing down”…
The Ukranian leader said:
“Unfortunately, the situation has slowed down recently… we will discuss how to fix this because long-range capabilities are vital for us. The whole world sees how effective Ukrainians are – how our entire nation defends its independence…”
Starmer has refused to allow UK manufactured Storm Shadow missiles (with a range of 190 miles) to be used inside Russian territory for offensive purposes during the latest series of Ukrainian incursions. UK kit like the Challenger 2 tank has, however, been used on Russian soil…
In order to unlock the use of the decisive weaponry, both the UK, France and the US must sign off on the plan. The White House yesterday denied reports that the US was blocking an ask from the UK for the use of the missiles to be approved, saying no such request had been made. So Starmer has not picked up the phone to Biden about it – why the delay?
Speaking at his speech on how to achieve “progressive capitalism” Wes Streeting fired a dig and Andy Burnham:
“Bond markets are not bond villains and fiscal rules matter.”