Starmer speaks with Trump after president criticises lack of UK support for Iran strikes

Keir Starmer sought to repair fractured relations with Donald Trump over the war with Iran on Sunday, as a Labour backlash gathered pace over Tony Blair’s assertion the UK should have supported the US’s initial airstrikes on Iran.The prime minister spoke to the US president on Sunday afternoon after a barrage of criticism from Trump, who told his UK ally on Saturday that his help was not needed, even as the US continued to use UK bases for strikes against Iran.After a breakdown in relations between Trump and Starmer, which led the US president to declare on social media that “We don’t need people that join wars after we’ve already won”, the two world leaders spoke on Sunday to discuss their nations’ military cooperation.A Downing Street spokesperson said the leaders “began by discussing the latest situation in the Middle East and the military cooperation between the UK and US through the use of RAF bases in support of the collective self-defence of partners in the region”.The call came after warnings that Starmer’s initial refusal to allow the US military aircraft to use British airbases had “ruined” the special relationship between the two countries

Labour accuses Badenoch of scoring ‘cheap political points’ over Iran strikes

Labour has accused Kemi Badenoch of scoring “cheap political points” after the Conservative party leader said Keir Starmer was “too scared” to join strikes on Iran.Al Carns, the defence minister, said “serious politics” was required in response to Badenoch’s speech at the party’s spring conference where she criticised the prime minister’s stance on the US-Israel strikes on Iran a week ago.Initially, Starmer did not allow the US to use UK RAF bases for the attack, and did not take part in initial military action against Iran, but then said the RAF would take part in defensive operations. A strike by an Iranian drone hit an aircraft hangar at RAF Akrotiri in Cyprus.Badenoch told the Conservative’s spring conference in Harrogate, North Yorkshire: “At a time when Britain needs strong and decisive leadership, we have a prime minister who is too afraid of making the wrong decision, too afraid to make any decision at all

‘Like fleeing to Southampton’: was Mandelson escape ‘plot’ just a joke?

Is it really plausible that Peter Mandelson could have hatched a daring plot to escape to the British Virgin Islands? In the capital of Road Town for the last week or so, the question has been on many minds. And even if the UK’s Commons speaker, Lindsay Hoyle, came away with that possibility in mind from a recent visit, very few of them are convinced.“It seemed strange to me,” said one bemused local official who had met Hoyle at a function a few days earlier, “that if you were going to flee, it would be to a British territory. From a logical point of view, you’re still more or less in the UK. It’s like fleeing to Southampton

Police search home of former Labour MP’s husband amid China spying investigation

The husband of former Labour MP Gloria De Piero has confirmed his home was searched on Wednesday as part of a police investigation into an alleged Chinese spying ring.James Robinson, a former aide to the ex-Labour deputy leader Tom Watson, issued a statement confirming the raid on the home he shares with his wife, but said he had not been detained or questioned by police.He said: “I can confirm that police officers visited my home yesterday with a search warrant. I understand their attendance was part of enquiries into those arrested and questioned over matters allegedly relating to China.”Robinson, the founder and director of Woburn Partners and a former media correspondent for the Guardian, added: “I would like to make it absolutely clear that I have neither been detained, arrested nor questioned in connection with this, or any other, matter

Jean Perraton obituary

My mother, Jean Perraton, who has died aged 88, was a town planner, environmental campaigner, author and promoter of outdoor swimming.As a member and later chair of the Cam Valley Forum, Jean was instrumental in the campaign to gain designated bathing water status on the river at Sheep’s Green in Cambridge, which succeeded in 2024. Projects also included the eradication of floating pennywort in the upper Cam.Jean served as president of the River and Lake Swimming Association (2008-13), and published two books, Swimming Against the Stream (2005) and One Musician’s War (2011), based on her father’s wartime letters.Born in Eastbourne, East Sussex, Jean was the elder daughter of Maud (nee Bartley), a teacher, and George Warner, a salesman and gifted violinist

Keir Starmer accused of ‘mimicking Trump’ with Middle East crisis TikTok post

Keir Starmer has been accused of trying to mimic Donald Trump’s social media output after posting a TikTok video about the crisis in the Middle East overlaid with the prime minister’s voice and the Dire Straits song Money for Nothing.The video opens with footage showing Royal Navy Wildcat helicopters flying over his head before cutting to British military jets in action and a drone being destroyed, as Starmer’s voice states the position he has taken on the conflict.“Our number one priority is protecting our people,” says Starmer, overlaid with the sound of electric guitars played by Dire Straits.Starmer refused to join the US and Israeli strikes on Iran but has since authorised “defensive” action.Al Pinkerton, a Liberal Democrat MP, said the choice of song when the military was “crying out” for the government’s defence spending plan seemed “particularly cloth-eared”