Israel’s attacks on Lebanon should not be happening, says Keir Starmer

Israel’s continued attacks on Lebanon “shouldn’t be happening”, Keir Starmer has said on his visit to the Middle East, as he called for the Iran conflict to become a watershed moment for the future security of the UK.In an article for the Guardian, the prime minister said the UK’s response to the crisis must involve a fundamental reset in terms of making the country more resilient, including by boosting defence and having closer links to Europe.His comments on Israel echoed criticisms by Yvette Cooper, the foreign secretary; and John Healey, the defence secretary, emphasising a potentially widening gap between the UK and Donald Trump’s US over the Iran conflict and its aftermath.As well as the condemnation over Lebanon, Starmer and his ministers have been adamant that the strait of Hormuz must be free of any sort of tolls or levies, after Trump mooted the idea of a “joint venture” between the US and Iran to do this.Speaking in Bahrain on a trip in which he has also held talks in Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates on shoring up the tentative ceasefire between Iran, the US and Israel, and fully reopening the strait of Hormuz to commercial shipping, Starmer criticised Israel’s intensified bombing in Lebanon, which has killed more than 250 people

Starmer says talks with Gulf leaders have reinforced sense Iran war ceasefire is ‘fragile’ – as it happened

Keir Starmer has said he discussed the “fragile” nature of the US-Iran ceasefire with Gulf allies and that “it takes more than just words” to make it permanent, the Press Association reports.After talks with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed Bin Salman and UAE President Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Starmer told broadcasters:double quotation markI think the mood is very much one of the shock that they were attacked in the first place, because of course they weren’t attacking Iran, and the intensity of some of the attacks.Relief that there’s now a ceasefire. I think a general sense that it’s fragile, that there’s work to do in relation to it.And then a lot of reflection and discussion, me with them, about the work we did over the last six to seven weeks together, the collective self-defence, the capabilities

‘No more bending to Westminster’s will’ if Plaid Cymru wins power, leader vows

Plaid Cymru’s leader has promised “no more bending to Westminster’s will” as the nationalist party stands on the brink of taking office for the first time in next month’s Senedd elections.Speaking at Plaid Cymru’s manifesto launch in Wrexham on Thursday – chosen because of its football team, which has showcased Wales’s potential to the world – Rhun ap Iorwerth told a packed room of supporters there would be “no more toeing the London party line, no more defending the status quo and no more saying no to Wales”.He said: “Together, and for the first time, we can give our nation the leadership it deserves, leadership that takes its cue from the people of Wales and nobody else.”Labour has led Wales since devolution in 1999 but it appears destined for opposition. Polls consistently suggest the May contest is a two-horse race between Plaid Cymru and Reform UK, with Labour a distant third or even fourth after the Green party

Why colluding with King Donald’s insanity is the only game in town | John Crace

The Madness of King Donald. Unless you’ve spent most of the last few years on a silent retreat – and who could blame you? – it can’t have escaped you that the American president is both not that bright and borderline sociopathic. A lethal combination. Posting “Open the Fuckin’ Strait you crazy bastards or you’ll be living in Hell” on his social media account is not the action of a well man. Certainly not when the Middle East is on a knife-edge

UK spending on foreign aid hits lowest level since 2008

The UK government’s spending on foreign aid has hit its lowest level in nearly two decades, figures show, as humanitarian experts say the cuts are costing lives.Provisional data shows the government allocated 0.43% of national income to official development assistance (ODA) in 2025, down from 0.5% in 2024 and matching the level in 2008.The total ODA spend in 2025 was just over £13bn, an annual decrease of £1bn, or 7

Zack Polanski calls for UK to withdraw trade agreement with Israel after strikes on Lebanon

Zack Polanski has called on the government to tear up the UK-Israel trade agreement after the Israeli strikes on Lebanon.Polanski also called for Keir Starmer to ban the US using UK airspace and said sanctions should be imposed on Israel, which he accused of “behaving in a completely uncontrolled way”.“What is it going to take for this government to actually put robust sanctions on Israel?” he said at the launch of the Green party local election campaign in London.“It is outrageous that Israel is still enjoying diplomatic and trade privileges from the international community. As a Green party, we are calling on this government to make much more robust sanctions, to withdraw the UK-Israel trade agreement and to end the genocide