John Healey has summarised Starmer’s trip to the Middle East as ‘scoping work’ during a televised interview this morning. Meetings, meetings…
The Defence Secretary talked up Starmer’s role in changing Britain’s posture at the London Defence Conference:
“I thought that was a really important speech um and a very important sort of declaration of first duty and first principle from the PM. I think you saw it amplified when he made his Munich Security Conference speech a month or so ago, where he said that hard power is the currency of the age. Where he said that we know that we must spend more faster on defence, and the the personal commitment that he has made to leading the reset of relations with crucial allies.”
Healey added of Starmer’s trip: “the commitment that he’s making at the moment now in the Middle East to scope the sort of discussions for a strengthening of the ceasefire and a reopening of the Strait of Hormuz.” He turned up, thanked the troops, scoped some future discussions, and is coming back today – get this man the Nobel Peace Prize…
Healey said for his own part that his goal was to set up the MoD so “defence becomes an engine for economic growth helping to reinforce the number one economic number one mission of this government.” He must be upset at Reeves refusal to fund any more defence investment then…
Starmer said to Robert Peston this afternoon:
“I’m fed up with the fact that families across the country see their bills go up and down on energy businesses bills go up and down on energy because of the actions of Putin or Trump across the world.”