Keir Starmer welcomes Iran war ceasefire as he heads to Gulf to meet regional leaders – UK politics live
Good morning.
Good morning. Keir Starmer has welcomed the ceasefire agreement between the US and Iran. Here is Andrew Roth’s story about the overnight news.
And this is what Starmer has said, in a statement issued by No 10 this morning.
double quotation markI welcome the ceasefire agreement reached overnight, which will bring a moment of relief to the region and the world.
Together with our partners we must do all we can to support and sustain this ceasefire, turn it into a lasting agreement and re-open the Strait of Hormuz.
No 10 released this statement in a news release saying that he is travelling to the Gulf today “to meet with Gulf partners and discuss diplomatic efforts to support and uphold the ceasefire in order to bring about a lasting resolution to the conflict and protect the UK and global economy from further threats”.
This trip was arrangement before the ceasefire was announced, Downing Street has stressed. Starmer did not decide to hop on a plane after reading Donald Trump’s ceasefire announcement on Truth Social last night.
We don’t have details of where Starmer will be going, or who he will meet. But this is what Downing Street says about the purpose of the visit.
double quotation markOn the visit, the prime minister will make clear his government’s commitment to de-escalation, and hold further talks on practical efforts to restore freedom of navigation in the Strait of Hormuz following promising progress reported as a result of the ceasefire. As announced by the prime minister last week, the United Kingdom is continuing to lead the international effort, convening allies from across the world to ensure the Strait of Hormuz is reopened.
He will also see in person the defensive support the UK has provided in the collective self-defence of our allies in the region and thank UK personnel for their brave service.
And we don’t know when we will hear or see Starmer – but, as soon as we do, you will read about it here.
Here are the other things happening today.
Morning: Sadiq Khan, the Labour mayor of London, is at an event announcing funding for youth clubs.
Morning: Ed Davey, the Lib Dem leader, is campaigning in Yorkshire.
Morning: Anas Sarwar, the Scottish Labour leader, is campaigning in Edinburgh, where he is talking about culture policy. John Swinney, the first minister and SNP leader, is visiting Na h-Eileanan an Iar (the Western Isles), and Russell Findlay, the Scottish Tory leader, is on a campaign visit in Ayrshire.
12.3pm: Richard Tice, Reform UK’s deputy leader, and Malcolm Offord, the party’s leader in Scotland, hold a press conference in Aberdeen.
Afternoon: Nigel Farage, the Reform UK leader, is on a visit in London.
At some point today the Welsh Liberal Democrats are launching their Senedd election campaign.
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James Cleverly, the shadow housing secretary and a former foreign secretary, told Sky News this morning that Donald Trump’s threat yesterday to wipe out Iranian civilisaton was not “appropriate”.
Asked about the comment, Cleverly said:
But look, we know that President Trump uses incredibly ostentatious, hyperbolic language. We recognise that it’s not the position that a Conservative leader, whether it be Kemi or a foreign secretary, would take.
Yesterday the Scottish Conservatives published their manifesto for the Holyrood election. This morning the Institute for Fiscal Studies thinktank has published its initial response to the plans, and it says the tax cuts proposed “cannot credibly be funded” by administrative savings, as the Tories claim. To fund their tax cuts, the Tories would probably have to implement “substantial cutbacks” in services, the IFS says.
Summing up the analysis, David Phillips, head of devolved and local government finance at the IFS, says (bold type from IFS):
double quotation markThe Scottish Conservatives’ two flagship tax proposals are significant cuts to income tax and business rates. Together, the party estimates that these would cost £3.7bn a year by the end of the parliament in 2031–32. Over £2bn a year of additional spending on a range of priority areas takes the total cost of ‘new measures’ to around £6bn a year by 2031–32.
It is welcome that these costs are set out clearly in a costings document. But these are big tax cuts and spending increases – equivalent to almost 10% of current forecasts for Scottish government day-to-day spending in 2031. While specific cuts to disability benefits have been identified to pay for around a third of the £6bn package, history suggests there is a significant risk that the amount saved from these cuts would be lower than the £2.1bn a year pencilled in by 2031–32. The almost £4bn a year expected from various measures to reduce back-office, administration and civil service costs is very large relative to existing budgets – and relative to what Reform UK said it would aim to save from such measures …
Taking the entire package of measures together, this may be a costed plan on paper but whether it would survive contact with reality is far from clear. Scotland can have lower taxes and higher spending on some services – but giveaways on the scale proposed by the Scottish Conservatives cannot credibly be funded largely through back-office and administrative savings. In addition to the cuts to benefits set out in the manifesto, there would likely need to be substantial cutbacks to either the range or quality of some services used by households and businesses too.
James Cleverly, the shadow housing secretary, claimed on GB News this morning that Keir Starmer has lost credibility through his response to the Iran war. Commenting on Starmer’s visit to the Gulf, Cleverly said:
double quotation markThe prime minister is desperately trying to regain some credibility, having been slow and indecisive throughout this situation.
He’s changed positions. He was opposing the United States using their own aircraft from British bases. Then he was in favour of it.
He delayed the decision to deploy British naval assets. He left British military personnel and our allies in the region not properly defended. And now he’s finally engaging properly with this situation.
