Dear John,

This week your regular writer is enjoying a well earned holiday. Yet the world keeps on spinning, and whilst the news cycle has been dominated by Taylor Swift’s new album, a lesser talked about meeting between a former KGB officer and New York real estate mogul took place late last night…

Nothing to declare

After a week of Epstein-list-distracting buildup, the summit between indicted war criminal Vladimir Putin and convicted regular criminal Donald Trump finally took place in Anchorage at around 8pm UK time, with the pair holding a joint press conference just after midnight. 

Stomachs across Europe turned as Putin was given the red carpet treatment and as the man almost solely responsible for around 1.5million casualties, delivered his remarks in front of a slogan - ‘PERSUING PEACE’

But for all the claims of progress, very little was made explicit on what the two leaders had even spoken about. Indeed, in a typically sphinx-like assessment, it was several minutes before Putin mentioned ‘the situation in Ukraine’. He said that an agreement had been reached but falsely claimed that the “root cause” of the conflict - threats to Russian security - needed to be addressed before peace could be achieved, a phrase that will set hares running in Kyiv.

The conference ended with Putin, in English, jokingly suggesting, "next time in Moscow", an indication that we could see a repeat in the not too distant future.

Eur-opinon matters?

As this newsletter reaches you, prime minister Keir Starmer is currently on a call with European Nato leaders and Ukrainian president/Hero, Volodymyr Zelensky who this morning said he had a “long and substantive” conversation with Trump after the summit. Keir Starmer has similarly spoken to the US president with details on what Europe thinks of these developments yet to emerge.

Before the summit, Europe was keen to set their own boundaries with 26 of the 27 EU leaders welcoming Trump’s peace efforts but reasserting that “international borders must not be changed by force”. Viktor Orban’s decision to not sign the joint statement is the latest example of Hungarian attempts to stymie EU support for the Ukrainian war effort.

As the continent braced for last night’s showdown, Zelensky was in Berlin on Wednesday alongside the new German chancellor, Freidrich Merz culminated in a call organised by Merz, involving Trump, Vance, Keir Starmer and other European leaders. 

Both Merz and Zelensky told reporters that the US president had agreed to a set of European principles for the talks. Whilst on Thursday morning, the European Commission shared that Trump had agreed to debrief the EU and Ukraine. The Ukrainian President was then warmly embraced by Keir Starmer on the steps of Downing Street in a clear sign of Britain’s support for Ukraine, amid fears that Trump would agree to cede Ukrainian territory to Russia.

Out of Plaice

In his latest attempt of brash egotism (following on from his very own water-gate), American VP JD Vance has been living his English gentleman fantasy in the Cotswolds this week.

At the behest of former Chancellor, architect of austerity and Eton stereotype, George Osborne - Vance has been wining and dining some of British politics big beasts (whilst studiously avoiding others…). Foreign Secretary, and friend of Vance, David Lammy was in hot water after admitting to fishing without a license - which one can only assume led to a lot of sole searching…

Tongues in Westminster were wagging earlier in the week when it was announced that the Leader of his Majesty’s Opposition - Kemi Badenoch - would not be meeting with Vance. Despite both parties citing scheduling issues, the appearance of Robert Jenrick at Vance’s Cotswolds retreat has done little to reassure those in Team Kemi of where the American administration's loyalties lie. Et tu Bobby? 

Next up for the veep was meetings with two Cameo titans; Bosh Beds founder Tom Skinner and former city boy metals trader Nigel Farage. Vance’s meeting with the Reform UK leader comes shortly after UK Ambassador to Washington, Peter Mandelson revealed the growing fascination with the party state-side. Skinner, who I appreciate many readers may not have heard of, is a former Apprentice contestant who has accused the  “woke brigade” of thinking “having a pint on a Friday is a hate crime”, so a perfectly normal dinner guest in MAGA-circles.

Decoding Populism

This time last week, The Times published research commissioned by Best for Britain and carried out by YouGov that took a deep dive into ‘Decoding Populism’, aiming to understand the reasons behind rising public support for Reform UK.

The groundbreaking research found five distinct “tribes” within the Reform coalition - united by similar sentiments, but clearly divided on policy positions. The research found that potential Reform voters are united by a sense of betrayal, anger and hopelessness. 

Commenting on our research, Chair of the Business and Trade Committee Liam Byrne, said “What binds those thinking about voting for Reform is not ideology but shared emotion. Reform UK’s appeal lies in exploiting these emotions, not offering solutions - and this is why a sizeable segment of Reform UK voters remain persuadable”.

He Musk be stopped!

Concerning news emerged this week that world’s richest man and all around pantomime villain, Elon Musk, has applied to Ofgem to become an energy supplier to UK consumers and businesses.

It is now up to Ofgem to decide whether a man with such a clearly dangerous political agenda should be granted even a greater role in a vital UK industry. 

We don’t think Musk should be allowed anywhere near our energy industry, and neither do the thousands of you who have already used our tool to write an email to Ofgem expressing your concerns.

Will you join us and thousands of others in writing to Ofgem telling them to protect Britain's consumers? It only takes a minute!

A*’s and foreign bars

On Thursday morning, hundreds of thousands opened their A Level, T-Level and other results - ending the initial chapter of their lives and beginning the next. Top A-Level results rose as a record number of students received their first-choice university places. 

In yester-year many such school leavers would now be preparing to travel across Europe, perhaps study abroad as part of Erasmus, or simply plan to pursue a European career or apprenticeship. These opportunities, which were previously available to so  many, are still out of reach for today’s youngsters.

Since the EU and UK committed to arranging a new Youth Mobility Scheme at the May Summit, we have heard very little on the practicalities of making sure our young people get the opportunities they deserve. 

In every constituency in Britain, a youth mobility scheme is remarkably popular, with the touted two-year scheme enjoying two-thirds support across the country. We believe that young people who have worked so hard for their futures should not be locked out of opportunities. As such, we have set up a page to make it easier for our supporters to write to their local newspaper, highlighting the issue.

Cheerful News of the Week

This newsletter is often dominated by bad news so please enjoy the Japanese Ambassador to the UK showing once again why he is a bona fide star…

https://x.com/ambjapanuk/status/1955322305917108369?s=46&t=8HP2kiun4wN_CVi1pYhYvw - (We apologise for the X link!)

Cringe Column 

Yesterday, the Premier League returned. Here’s to another year of either loving or loathing the constant stream of football! It is due to be another warm one this weekend, remember to put on your suncream, stay hydrated and tell Ofgem to look after our energy markets!

All the best,

Joshua Edwicker

Content Officer

Best for Britain