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Welcome to the Best for Britain Weekend Wire. With US President Donald Trump in town for his (second) state visit, the Labour deputy leadership contest rumbling on, and the government’s first two deportations of people to France going ahead, it’s been quite the seven days.
Read on for the full newsletter, including snippets from our Substack content exclusive for subscribers. If you like what you see, why not consider signing up, for just £4 a month. Or, take a look at our free content, including mythbusting misinformation. Happy Saturday!
Lost in Windsor
The world or, well, Westminster, held its breath on Thursday afternoon as Trump and Prime Minister Keir Starmer stood side by side for their latest nerve-shredding high-wire act press conference at Chequers, which saw the President brand the PM a “tough negotiator” but say that his plan to recognise a Palestinian state was “one of our few disagreements”. Trump also claimed Russian President Vladimir Putin had “really let me down” over peace in Ukraine while the pair touted a new ‘tech prosperity deal” on AI, quantum and other emerging technologies.
Starmer managed to dodge the worst of the critical front pages, with the Mirror dubbing the event: “Relief for PM as Trump heads off after only a few awkward moments.” Touche…
However, London mayor Sadiq Khan didn’t get off quite so lightly after Trump insisted he’d had the capital’s first Muslim mayor banned from the state dinner. (Khan’s people say this never happened.) But the punchy Labour politician got the first jab in, when he shared this moving social media video, celebrating London in all its spectacular diversity.
Protest people
It wasn't all smiles and handshakes during the state visit. Hundreds of protesters gathered in central London to show their opposition to Trumpism…
And Best for Britain’s team was on the scene asking protesters what they thought of Trump’s politics, and whether something similar could happen here.
International relations
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According to Politico, Starmer’s chief adviser Morgan McSweeney isn’t letting up on what they called his “personal desire to build a coalition and playbook for center-left parties to win and govern worldwide, with Starmer at its heart”. The full piece - including some interesting insights into goings-on within the US Democrats - is well worth a read.
Your place or mine?
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Following a summer of worsening political tension, culminating in Britain’s largest ever far right protest led by agitator Stephen Yaxley-Lennon, commentator, actor and podcaster Alex Andreou wrote a moving piece about his experience of flags and the far right as ‘someone who looks different to you’. Read on for an exclusive extract… and subscribe to our Substack for the full piece.
“I found myself last Friday trying to plan, so that I wouldn't even need to go to the corner shop for milk on Saturday. Like it was Christmas Eve or the day before lockdown. Why? Because I live near where Yaxley-Lennon was to assemble his "troops" at the weekend, and where many of them would end up coming back to, especially with the Charlton-Millwall derby going on that afternoon. I had friends texting me to "stay safe". Southwark, for all its piquant splendour, has also been home to that tendency for decades.
“I need you to understand what this country feels like right now to those of us who look different, because only then might you glean what those flags going up signify to someone like me. They are a preemptive claim over contested space. They say "we own this street - not you". They are a marking of territory. They do not unite, they exclude - a visual reminder that I am not welcome.”
Free speech… No! Not like that!
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This Wednesday, comedian Jimmy Kimmel's late night show was indefinitely suspended by the Disney-owned ABC network. It came after Trump's Federal Communications Commission (FCC) suggested it could take action over Kimmel’s suggestion that Trump supporters tried to portray the assassin of Charlie Kirk “as anything other than one of them”.
It is just the latest in a series of moves by Trump, whose inauguration speech proclaimed the end of “all government censorship”, to use the full might of the federal US government to censor critics and even… pretty mild comedy.
These include a $15bn lawsuit he filed against the New York Times for its reporting during the 2024 election which quoted his former chiefs of staff warning he would act like a dictator if re-elected. This lawsuit was struck down by a US judge on Friday. Separately, Trump has urged the FCC to revoke the licenses of any broadcasters critical of him.
But he is facing opposition, with almost all the major late night hosts from John Stewart to Jimmy Fallon seeming unperturbed by Trump and lambasting him on their shows for taking Kimmel off the air.
Not so plane sailing
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Two people have been deported to France under the government’s ‘one in, one out’ pilot scheme with France. The BBC reported an Indian national was removed from the UK on Thursday morning on an Air France plane, while the PA news agency reported that a man from Eritrea, who lost a High Court bid to halt his removal was on a Heathrow-Paris flight at 6.15am on Friday.
Home secretary Shabana Mahmood said the scheme with France was an “important first step to securing our borders” and vowed to “challenge any last-minute, vexatious attempts” to stop flights in the courts. However, she insisted the UK would “always play its part in helping those genuinely fleeing persecution” but that it could not be through “dangerous crossings”.
The narrative around asylum seekers, small boats and economic migrants is increasingly confused - and weaponised. Over on our Substack, Best for Britain policy officer Ayesha Chaudhry has put together a mythbusting explainer setting out the facts, debunking the misconceptions, and even provided an excellent reading list for those looking to know more.
Hillsborough law introduced… again
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After 27 years of campaigning the government has introduced its Hillsborough law. Officially called the Public Service Accountability Act, the Bill if passed would give all government workers a “duty of candour” to tell the truth or face criminal charges and will give more legal aid to victims' families and inquiries into similar disasters. The bill is also supported by the victims of the Grenfell Tower and infected blood scandal.
While previous Hillsborough laws have “fallen” and this latest bill has still got many stages to go, campaign groups remain cautiously optimistic.
As the topic of Hillsborough is back in the news it's worth noting how critical the ECHR and the Human Rights Act were along the road to justice for Hillsborough. Its requirement for the protection of life gave the inquiry into Hillsborough the powers to uncover the truth about the disaster. As Becky Shah whose mother Inger lost her life at Hillsborough “because of the Human Rights Act… the light finally shone.”
And in the red corner…
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With Bridget Philipson being a government minister and recently ousted Lucy Powell a close friend of Manchester mayor Andy Burnham, himself a much discussed potential challenger to Starmer, some have framed the contest for Labour’s deputy as a proxy between the two. Read more on our Substack from former Politicial Editor of the Observer, Toby Helm.
Eurofriction
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Ahead of the Eurovision song contest in Vienna next year, the first of the so-called ‘big five’ nations, Spain, has warned that it would boycott the annual celebration of kitsch, if Israel was allowed to compete following increasing reports of war crimes in Gaza. Spanish PM Pedro Sánchez endorsed banning Israel, highlighting that Russia was expelled after invading Ukraine in 2022, Politico reported.
The European Commission has also revealed plans to restrict trade with Israel and to impose sanctions on government ministers, in what would be, if adopted, its toughest response to their actions in Gaza so far.
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EU minister Nick Thomas-Symonds ventured over to Brussels this week for another vital diplomatic push. In a speech at the College of Europe, he stressed how the UK government was “moving away from the ideological separation between the UK and the EU that has dominated the last decade” and how “sovereignty does not stop deep cooperation; it should enable it”. Hear, hear.
However, there were some rumblings picked up that the EU may not agree to a deal on agri-food before the UK confirms the numbers of young Europeans we will welcome via a youth mobility scheme. Hostile briefing? Or could there be trouble ahead? We’ll keep you informed every step of the way…
Cheerful News of the Week
As one of my colleagues pointed out recently, cheerful news is noticeably often medical or scientific related. But, in a world of increasing vaccine skepticism, anything which makes it easier - not harder - to get jabs into arms is truly welcome.
With that said, have a read of this fascinating Observer piece on how researchers have found a way to manufacture a staggeringly expensive ingredient - part of the soapbark tree - vital to vaccine supply chains via laboratory. This is also great news for deforestation, and the potential development of new vaccines and medications across the board. Take a bow, scientists.
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Great British News presenter Martin Daubney was overcome by patriotic fervour… for American President Donald Trump. Camped outside Windsor, Daubney fired off salutes (from the wrong hand) to American armoured vehicles, calling them “an astonishing show of muscle”. Nothing shows British patriotism like admiring another country's “muscle”.
Keep an eye out this weekend as the UK government prepares to recognise the state of Palestine. Next week also features European Day of Languages, World Tourism Day and the Moldovan Elections.
Have a good one.
Jessica Frank-Keyes
Senior Press Officer
Best for Britain
With thanks to Myron Michaelides
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