View this post on the web at [link removed]

Welcome to your final Weekend Wire of 2025 from Best for Britain.
With just four days left to open on the advent calendars, what a year it’s been. The presents are almost wrapped, the sprouts are flying off the shelves, and we hope the Baileys (or alcohol-free equivalent) is chilling.
We’ll be sharing plenty of festive content on The Best for Britain Wire over the Christmas period, including rounding up our favourite pieces and some of our more under the radar content. And Weekend Wire will be back in your inboxes on Saturday, January 10.
But, before we get ahead of ourselves, there’s been no shortage of news to cover this week: from ongoing negotiations over the future of Ukraine, to the very welcome confirmation the UK will be re-joining the Erasmus+ scheme from 2027. While US President Donald Trump dropped a bit of coal into the stocking, filing a mega-lawsuit against the BBC in Florida.
Read on for lots more on all that. And from all of us at Best for Britain, have a very merry and restful Christmas, and see you in 2026.
The Best for Britain Wire is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support our work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.
Erasmus-t Be Christmas!
The UK’s university students got an early present to unwrap this year, with the announcement that Britain will be participating in the Erasmus+ scheme once again from 2027.
At Best for Britain we’ve long campaigned for the restoration of these unique opportunities to young people ever since the move was formally recommended by the UK Trade and Business Commission (UKTBC) in their landmark May 2023 report.
Our External Affairs Manager, James Coldwell, welcomed the news [ [link removed] ], saying:
“Rejoining Erasmus is a major win for young British students, for countless others who will be able to access its vocational training schemes, and for towns and cities across the UK that will once again benefit from its cultural exchange, enriching their communities and broadening horizons for their young people.”
EU ambassador to the UK, Pedro Serrano, hailed the scheme’s “long European tradition of learning, openness and exchange” and its support for “young people’s participation in democratic life” in an op ed for the Mirror [ [link removed] ]. And you can read up on all the details in the Mirror [ [link removed] ] and the HuffPost [ [link removed] ]. Joyeux Noël.
Peace on earth?
Negotiations between the US, Russia, Ukraine and Europe over ending Vladimir Putin’s illegal war continued this week; in what was seemingly the opposite of goodwill to all men…
Speaking at an annual defence ministry meeting on Wednesday, the Russian president lashed out at European leaders as “Europe’s little pigs”, insisting that Russia would meet its goals “unconditionally”, including “on the battlefield”, as the Guardian reported [ [link removed] ].
Meanwhile on Thursday, European leaders met at the Council of Europe for a crunch vote on whether to use frozen Russian assets, which are predominantly stored in Belgium, to support Ukraine. But the bloc failed to reach an agreement [ [link removed] ], instead striking a deal to loan Ukraine €90bn (£79bn) which President Volodymyr Zelensky said “truly strengthens our resilience”.
The indecision, the BBC reported, was due to Belgium requiring security guarantees against possible retaliation from Russia for deploying the assets - which other EU nations balked at. Some 24 EU nations - apart from Hungary, Slovakia and the Czech Republic - will be liable for the two-year, interest-free loan. It is about two-thirds of the €137bn Kyiv needs for 2026-27.
In a lengthy address [ [link removed] ] to the Russian people - and the world - on Friday, Putin accused the EU of “theft” for its pursuit of Russian assets, claiming: “It’s burglary... the consequences are very serious for the burglars.” It comes ahead of further talks with the US in Miami this weekend, while the UK’s defence sector continues to discuss the need for a “whole of society response” to the growing Russian threat. You can read more about preparations in this excellent NYT piece [ [link removed] ].
Seoul Searching
In a (small) boost for UK trade, Britain and South Korea wrapped up negotiations on a new free trade agreement, set to benefit exports including Scottish salmon and Bentley cars.
The deal will cover digital trade, financial and telecommunications services, streamlined customs procedures, business personnel, food safety standards, and investment protection, and revises the existing UK-South Korea agreement which rolled over after Brexit.
As top trade expert David Henig [ [link removed] ], advisor to the UKTBC, noted:
“The upgrading of the UK-Korea trade agreement is welcome particularly for the automotive sector though the overall economic impact will be limited. Ideally this should be part of ongoing activity to strengthen existing trade agreements - with the EU as our largest trade partner the most important element of this.”
BBC You In Court
Yes, US President Donald Trump is suing the BBC. He has filed a lawsuit against the broadcaster in Florida, which seeks up to $10bn in damages (£7.5 billion) for two counts: defamation, and a violation of the Florida Deceptive and Unfair Trade Practices Act. It all relates to the BBC’s editing of a speech Trump made ahead of the 2021 attack on the US Capitol for a Panorama documentary, as the PA news agency reported.
Trump’s lawyers say the depiction of him in the programme, which aired a week before the results of the 2024 US election, “was false and defamatory” and they add that “the BBC intentionally and maliciously sought to fully mislead its viewers around the world”. In the edit, a clip of Trump’s speech on January 6, 2021, was spliced with remarks he made later in the same speech to show him saying: “We’re going to walk down to the Capitol… and I’ll be there with you. And we fight. We fight like hell.”
A BBC spokesperson said: “As we have made clear previously, we will be defending this case. We are not going to make further comment on ongoing legal proceedings.”
Journalism professor Jane Martinson, writing in a personal capacity for the Guardian [ [link removed] ], outlined what she called Trump’s efforts to “make the world an absurdist farce”, including reports that [ [link removed] ] the BBC will seek to have the case dismissed, due to not having rights to air the film in the US.
W1-Pay
Speaking of the BBC, culture secretary Lisa Nandy has unveiled a government consultation on the future of the broadcaster, known as charter renewal. It mooted the prospect of new ways of funding including advertising or a subscription model, which could see people choose to pay extra for additional or premium BBC content. Another suggestion is the current licence fee being replaced with a new set of rates, depending on which services people use, per the BBC [ [link removed] ].
The public are being asked to give their views on the ever-contentious national debate - so why not have your say [ [link removed] ], if you’re so inclined? While the government has said it is “keeping an open mind, adding: “We have not yet identified a preferred model.”
Commenting on the consultation, Nandy said:
“I believe the BBC, alongside the NHS, is one of the two most important institutions in our country. While one is fundamental to the health of our people, the other is fundamental to the health of our democracy.”
False promises
With the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) rarely out of the headlines these days, Battersea MP Marsha de Cordova has written a tour de force for this Substack [ [link removed] ].
She powerfully argues that the failure of Brexit proves why “we must protect ourselves against the false promises of leaving yet another international commitment”.
“We all have a duty to push back against these delusions and stand up for the ECHR. Leaving it will not create a fair, responsible immigration system. This is a distraction, not a solution, and it cannot not justify risking the human rights framework that protects us all.
“I cannot stress enough that leaving the ECHR would place these protections at risk for everyone. It does not just affect cases related to immigration – it would undermine essential pillars of our peace and democracy.” - Marsha de Cordova
Mistletoe and Fines
The government has launched a new review into foreign financial interference into UK politics, coming after former Ukip and Brexit Party MEP Nathan Gill was jailed for taking Russian bribes.
Steve Reed, housing, communities and local government secretary Steve Reed, who announced the review to MPs, said Gill’s conduct was a “stain” on British democracy. The review will be chaired by former top civil servant Philip Rycroft, the Independent reported [ [link removed] ]. Rycroft is set to report his findings back to Reed and security minister Dan Jarvis by March 2026.
Digital cryptocurrency donations and Beijing’s influence would both be “in scope” of the review, Reed told MPs. But No10 said the review is not set to re-interrogate suggestions of interference in the Brexit referendum and is not aimed at any one particular political party.
Meanwhile, foreign secretary Yvette Cooper warned the Foreign Affairs Committee of disinformation disseminated internationally “on an industrial scale” by Russian-backed groups and that foreign financial interference has been “happening in countries across the world”.
Nightmare before Christmas
Resident doctors in England began another round of strikes this week [ [link removed] ], downing stethoscopes from Wednesday, December 17. Union leaders are warning of a “totally avoidable jobs crisis” and calling for a “genuinely long-term plan”, while the NHS put hospitals on “high alert” due to the “immensely challenging” timing, warning “more patients are likely to feel the impact”.
This latest industrial action comes amid concerns around seasonal pressures and the so-called ‘super flu’ with Starmer branding the move “dangerous and utterly irresponsible” during PMQs, while ministers are desperate to cut waiting lists for the 7.39m [ [link removed] ] patients in need of treatment.
NHS England has revealed flu hospitalisations hit 3,140 by the end of last week - the highest ever for this time of year. However, the organisation stressed there were now “welcome signs that the rise in flu cases in hospital is slowing”.
Mediation service Acas has offered to help resolve the dispute. With public opposition to the strike now at just shy of 60%, according to YouGov polling [ [link removed] ], frankly no one - doctors, patients, NHS staff or politicians - are currently coming out of this well.
For a broader insight into the reality of the NHS and the beds crisis going on right now, the Guardian was granted access to the Royal Stoke University Hospital. This worrying dispatch [ [link removed] ] sheds a light on how the annual winter crisis no longer feels confined to winter.
It was another busy week in UK-EU relations, with minister Nick Thomas-Symonds announcing to Parliament that the government and EU Commission are set to begin talks on the UK participating in the EU’s internal electricity market. Those negotiations “will now proceed swiftly”, he said, with full details set out in letters next week.
Thomas-Symonds also confirmed a deadline for agreements on a food and drink trade deal and carbon markets linkage before the next UK-EU summit expected in the spring. It came as Percy Pigs retailer Marks & Spencer told a House of Commons committee that a new trade agreement on food and drink “can’t come soon enough”. It’s not just an SPS deal - it’s an M&S SPS deal [ [link removed] ].
The Best for Britain Wire is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support our work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.
Cheerful News of the Week
We’ve got a (subtly) festive entry for you this week. Polar bear researchers in northern Canada found a wild mother bear has adopted a cub that was not biologically her own, the BBC reported [ [link removed] ].
Adorable video footage of the bear family shows the mother and her 10-11-month-old cubs exploring the wild snowy landscape; Christmas card-style. Scientists said the ‘adoption’ was only the 13th known case of the 4,600 bears studied in the area for nearly 50 years.
Evan Richardson, a polar bear scientist with Environment and Climate Change Canada, said: “It’s just nice to know that the bears are looking out for each other.” It really is.
Watch the BBC’s video here [ [link removed] ]. Trust me, it’s worth it.
What else could we possibly choose this week but the Vanity Fair interview with Trump chief of staff Susie Wiles, and the, err, interesting photoshoot with top aides?
Next week, of course, is Christmas Day. With Parliament in recess until January, why not have a look ahead to next year with Politico’s helpful guide to 2026 in politics [ [link removed] ].
Before then though, it can be difficult to get into a celebratory mood, given the state of the world and the alarm bells for the future. But I recently heard some good advice about this, albeit from an unexpected source (a YouTube knitting video).
“What we need to do is train ourselves to be joyful in a difficult world, not to welcome deprivation in a difficult world.” Consider this your encouragement, if needed!
Have a festive one.
Jessica Frank-Keyes
Senior Press Officer
Best for Britain
The Best for Britain Wire is a reader-supported publication. To receive new posts and support my work, consider becoming a free or paid subscriber.

Unsubscribe [link removed]?