Dear John,

In the week where Europe began to step up to the plate, Keir Starmer displayed remarkable statesmanship and Trump’s tariff fiasco continued to confuse and confound economists everywhere, here is your Weekend Wire…

Statesman Starmer

For the first time since Brexit a British Prime Minister has taken a leading role in not only European events but global events. Following Starmer’s meeting with Donald Trump, a successful charm offensive by all accounts, moods were relatively high heading into the weekend. Of course as we discussed last weekend, the disgraceful antics by the American President and Vice-President in the Oval Office threw the orange-faced man baby amongst the pigeons. 

To his credit, Starmer responded remarkably well, a last-minute audience for Zelensky with King Charles III and a hugely impressive culmination of European and world leaders at Sunday’s summit were a welcome reprieve for a Ukrainian President and people dumbfounded by Friday’s meltdown. It is fair to say that Starmer has not had a smooth start to his premiership, despite introducing important new pieces of legislation tackling workers and renters rights, most of the noise around this Labour government has focused on the challenging fiscal situation in which the country finds itself.

In some quarters he has been personally criticised for a lack of charisma, portrayed as a talented technocrat but not a Prime Minister. Is it a sign of how ill-advised those criticisms of Starmer’s character were that even the right-wing media have been quick to turn on Trump and lavish praise on the Labour man? No, hell has not frozen over, and pigs have not begun to fly, but the Daily Mail and Daily Telegraph have been very pleased with the Prime Minister. Anything is possible in this brave new world.

Labour’s poll ratings have improved, public opinion of Trump and Zelensky have moved in opposing directions across Europe and once again Britain is at the table with our European counterparts. Who would have thought that European unity and taking a proactive approach within our own continent would prove popular? 

Starmer is still aware of the tightrope on which he walks, and much has been made this week about the integration between our security apparatus and America’s. Unlike the French, our security infrastructures are inextricably linked, we rely on America much more than most other countries around Europe. Within this context, Starmer is trying to strike an important balance; the start of his PMQs and the reading out of the names of British servicemen who gave their life fighting alongside America was a powerful message, though he has not openly criticised the American administration - which can sometimes feel somewhat uncomfortable.

This week has been one of those particularly rare times in politics where those from most political parties seek to put their differences aside and show support on an issue of real importance. From Tom Tugenhart, to Ed Davey and James Cleverley, the Prime Minister received support from almost all corners of the House. Despite disavowing the disgusting comments made by JD Vance later in the week, Nigel Farage has been remarkably silent on the actions of his best pal Donald  (rat jumping sinking ship?). But Farage has even outdone himself and sunk to the level of the Trump administration by questioning Zelensky’s clothing. Although what can you expect from a man who has admired Putin for so long?

50/50 Parliament

Today is International Women's Day, across the world women are still massively disadvantaged on the basis of their gender. From not being allowed to attend school, to female genital mutilation and discrimination and abuse in the workplace and at home, there is still so much work left to do.

This year Best for Britain is teaming up with 50/50 Parliament, an inclusive and intersectional campaign taking action to build a better democracy for all through the empowerment of women and girls. 50/50 parliament works with all political parties to help women progress in politics, a sector which remains disproportionately male, with men still outnumbering women 2:1 in most elected bodies at a national and local level. 

In the 2024 General Election, over 101 women who stood were part of 50/50 Parliaments #SignUpToStand programme, with 25 of those women going on to win seats in parliament. Parliaments with a higher number of female leaders are more likely to be more equal, achieve higher economic growth and experience lower levels of corruption. But at the current rate 50:50 representation globally won't be reached until 2063.

Please, if you can, reshare 50/50’s Parliament and our joint message on your social media accounts today.

America’nt

Late on Monday night, whilst Europe slept, Trump announced that America would be freezing all American military aid in transit to Ukraine. The move came seemingly in response to Ukraine’s failure to sign the American mineral deal that President Trump so craves. The bombshell was the latest sign that America had turned its back on Europe and entered into a warm authoritarian embrace with the Kremlin.

Later in the week, Trump announced that America would cease the sharing of vital military intelligence with Ukraine. In a move likely to bring joy to Moscow, who have increased the pace of their military endeavours in the region, Trump’s policy will undoubtedly cost thousands of Ukrainian lives. 

Galvanised by the worsening trans-atlantic relationship the EU met in a show of strength on Thursday at an emergency summit of the EU27 leaders and Zelensky. European leaders in Brussels agreed on a massive increase to defence spending, offering complete support to Ukraine. Despite Hungary’s Prime Minister failing to endorse an EU statement on Ukrainian support, the other 26 leaders were unanimous in their message.

At the meeting, the European Commission president, Ursula von der Leyen announced a £670 billion plan to increase European defence spending, calling the move a ‘watershed moment’. President Zelensky, clearly emotional, was quick to express his gratitude for Europe’s steadfast support. Even amongst the right-wing populists peppered across Europe such as Le Pen, Meloni and Fico of Slovakia, support for Ukraine has been strong. 

The decision by Orban to reject the message of support for Ukraine offers an insight into a fascinating new split amongst Western right-wing populists; those who support Russia and those who do not. Donald Trump has managed, in merely 6 weeks, to do what no progressive has been able to do for decades, unite Europe and fracture the populist right. 

After the meeting, French President Emmanuel Macron warned of Putin’s imperialistic ambitions, whilst the EU Parliamentary President, Roberta Metsola, said it was ‘About damn time’ that Europe took ownership of its own defence.

A statement from Best for Britain's Director of Campaigns

With so much volatility in geopolitics right now it can appear quite overwhelming. Indeed, what should an organisation like Best for Britain, which has been working hard to create the conditions to repair our relationship with Europe through a deal on goods and services, do in the midst of much graver political issues?

Some will argue that issues around moving fruit and veg through ports, or agonising over what kind of safety mark to put on a product, now seem trivial. But I would argue that their triviality is exactly why we must get them out of the way as quickly as possible, before Europe can move onto the important issue of its continued existence. And while rejoining the EU would likely solve all these issues, an application is likely to fall on deaf ears at a time when Russia shows no signs of abating its aggression near the Eastern border.

There are just over 70 days until the first Starmer-Von Der Leyen Summit, where a political declaration on the UK-EU Reset is expected. That’s ten weeks to tell the Government that the public want a deal with Europe to fix their lives and livelihoods before the geopolitical situation gets worse. We want every MP to have seen a copy of our report on how much GDP growth can be gained from such a deal. (Spoiler alert: it’s up to 2.2%)

[SEND THE REPORT TO YOUR MP]

We want our supporters to write to every local paper to make sure everyone knows how popular such a deal is, and aspects of it - such as a Youth Mobility Visa Scheme- are among the public. We’ll be sending out the details as part of a Campaign Alert next week. We will be announcing even more campaign actions that you can take part in - and we really need your help on this - in the coming weeks.

Welcome to the Mad House

Donald Trump swanned into the joint address to Congress like a conquering emperor, like Nero before his court. Standing before his subjects, JD Vance sitting smugly over his right shoulder, it was hard to watch Trump’s rambling speech and feel anything other than a sense of dread. 

Historically, the joint address to Congress is often seen as time for reconciliation following hard fought election campaigns, an opportune moment to offer out the olive branch of friendship, a time to put national unity first. It will not surprise any of you to hear that Trump took, as is his want, a rather different approach. 

Breaking with tradition, Trump delivered the longest speech of any Presidential address to Congress in history, riddled with inaccuracies and jabs at the former President, Joe Biden, the speech was symbolic of this administration; divisive and purposefully designed to stir up MAGA passions. 

The hold that Trump has over the Republican Party was clear to see, after every statement there were whoops of joy and jubilation from the party's Congressmen and women. But for every hardcore MAGA Republican like Marjorie Taylor Greene donning her red cap and smug grin, there are many Republicans who have had to change their world view, they know that to stand in opposition to Trump is political suicide. Make no mistake, the Republican Party is dead, this is Trump’s fiefdom. 

Speaking of, the impact of the tariffs on the American economy this week has been dire, the Dow Jones has been in freefall (as have Tesla stock prices). The week began with wholesale tariffs on Mexico, Canada and China, but as the week has gone on, these tariffs have been watered down considerably (at the time of writing!). Notably, the American automotive industry won reprieve from the tariffs after Ford Motors and others made desperate pleas to the White House. Who knew putting massive tariffs on your trading partners might screw up your supply chains?

The reality is that Trump and his developing oligarchy will be protected from this administration's economic vandalism, regular working class Americans (many of whom voted for Trump) will not be. By abandoning their closest allies in Europe, attacking their closest and largest trading partners in North America and heaping praise on autocrats around the world, the Trump administration has plunged the world into a new era. 

The division of America has rarely been so clearly illustrated as it was in Congress, one has to wonder whether these divisions will ever be able to heal the now divided states of America.

Cringe Column 

On this day in 1917, the Russian Revolution began. Perhaps we could do with another uprising of the Russian people right about now?

Have a wonderful weekend as always, enjoy the sunshine and the first saplings of spring!

Joshua Edwicker

Content Officer

Best for Britain