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Welcome to your Weekend Wire from Best for Britain.
After the long, dark slog of January, February is finally almost upon us, with those lighter mornings and longer evenings just around the corner.
On the news front, from Starmer’s China visit to Trump’s military posturing in the Middle East, it’s been another week of international headlines that took us (literally) that bit closer to Doomsday [ [link removed] ]. Closer to home, the wait goes on for Labour to announce their candidate in the upcoming Greater Manchester by-election, while the Guardian took a deep-dive into the state of your local high street.
Read on for much more on all that.
Visa Xi Travel
This week Prime Minister Keir Starmer embarked on one of the biggest international trips of his premiership so far: a three-day visit to the East Asian economic powerhouse of China, accompanied by a host of business leaders. The visit has seen the PM meet with Chinese premier Xi Jinping, announce lower tariffs on Scotch whisky and under 30 days visa-free travel for British travellers to China, and confirm the lifting of Chinese sanctions [ [link removed] ] on MPs and peers.
However, in what may have felt like a rerun of his ‘Ming vase’ electoral strategy, the visit also saw Starmer navigate a fine line between the economic opportunities on offer, valid security and human rights concerns and - oh yes Xi did - US President Donald Trump’s inevitable weighing in. The PM faced staunch criticism from Sino hawks, including Alicia Kearns, who laid into him for boarding the (BA) plane before confirming jailed British citizen Jimmy Lai, 78, would join him on the flight home. Starmer said he had raised Lai’s case in his talks with Xi, alongside a “respectful discussion” on reported human rights abuses against the Uighur Muslim ethnic group, but there has not been an update on his release after five years in detention.
No10 staffers are understood to be on burner phones and laptops while on the trip, to avoid tech hacking amid spying fears - although Starmer confirmed to GB News that he did not get changed under the bed sheets. Former PM Baroness Theresa May and her staff were advised to get changed while in bed during their visit to China in 2018, to avoid spy cameras, PA reported.
Trump’s take? The President - who is himself expected to visit China in April - told reporters on Friday, in a not-so coded message to Mark Carney: “Well, it’s very dangerous for them to do that, and it’s even more dangerous, I think, for Canada to get into business with China.”
‘Psychodrama, qu’est-ce que c’est?’
After Labour’s National Executive Committee (NEC) rejected Greater Manchester mayor Andy Burnham’s bid to stand in the Gorton and Denton by-election, the competition has continued hotting up. Labour are expected to declare their candidate this weekend, while the Green Party have selected Trafford councillor and plumber Hannah Spencer [ [link removed] ], who ran as the party’s candidate for mayor of Manchester in 2024.
Reform UK, meanwhile, unveiled the GB News presenter and former political academic-turned-right-wing-activist Matt Goodwin, who once ate his own book [ [link removed] ] live on Sky News. Goodwin has since earned the endorsement [ [link removed] ] of far-right agitator Tommy Robinson, in what may not be entirely welcome news for his party. With both Labour and the Greens warning they are the only ones who can win against Reform UK, we’ll be watching this one closely.
Burnham - who is seen by some in the party as a potential challenger or successor to Starmer - has also given an interview [ [link removed] ] to BBC Radio Manchester where he insisted he stepped forward to stand for Labour because he wanted to “fight the politics of Reform” and that he did not try to “undermine the government”. What was it Kemi Badenoch said about psychodrama…?
Energy in the Zoom
At the UK Trade and Business Commission [ [link removed] ] (UKTBC) this week, our commissioners heard from expert witnesses about the current state of UK-EU negotiations on energy, and the key challenges and opportunities facing the sector, in an enlightening panel session [ [link removed] ].
As Jonny Peters, chief of staff at independent European climate change think tank, E3G, rightly highlighted: “In 2022, in the fallout from Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the price spikes were huge… [in] these kind of unforeseen geopolitical situations, it’s absolutely vital that we invest in the UK-EU relationship, including through the negotiations, to make sure we mitigate the impact of those price spikes into the UK and consumers.”
ICE-d out
After the fatal shootings of Alex Pretti and Renee Good in Minnesota, Trump said [ [link removed] ] earlier this week that his administration would “de-escalate a little bit” in the state, which has seen huge protests against ICE operations there. He also branded the deaths “terrible”.
However, on Friday, it emerged that former CNN anchor Don Lemon [ [link removed] ] had been arrested over charges that he violated federal law during a protest at a church in Minnesota earlier this month, according to his lawyer, as the Guardian reported. Lemon had entered the church and filmed anti-immigration enforcement protesters as they disrupted a service, the BBC said. He was taken into custody by federal agents on Thursday while in LA covering the Grammy Awards. A statement from his lawyer Abbe Lowell said: “Don will fight these charges vigorously and thoroughly in court.”
Elsewhere in US news, Trump has continued his military build up in the Middle East, following huge demonstrations against the regime in Iran and a violent crackdown in response. He has also warned [ [link removed] ] Iran to “stop killing protestors” and insisted “no nuclear”, amid weeks of pressure on the country to negotiate a deal. Trump also suggested there were “a lot of very big, very powerful ships sailing to Iran right now, and it would be great if we didn’t have to use them.”
It also emerged this week that Slovakian Prime Minister Robert Fico, a frequent supporter of the US President, told other EU leaders he was left shocked by Trump’s mental state, Politico reported [ [link removed] ], including using the words “dangerous” and “out of his mind”. However, Fico later posted on X, formerly Twitter, stating that he “must emphatically reject” Politico’s reporting about his meeting with Trump, and adding: “No one heard anything, no one saw anything, there are no witnesses, but nothing prevented the POLITICO portal from coming up with lies.”
High street woes
The Guardian newspaper took a deep dive [ [link removed] ] into the state of Britain’s high streets this week, publishing a data-led look at a new academic study which “lays bare the changing face of town centres”. Researchers at the University of Southampton found people feel high streets have declined more than any other part of their local area over the past decade.
While this may come as no surprise - whether you choose to blame out of town megastores, Amazon Prime, next day delivery or fast fashion Shein hauls - the impact is clear. The story came stamped with a warning label that the issue could risk damaging Labour’s electoral prospects if the party can’t succeed in halting the decline.
Why not have a look at your local high street’s stats [ [link removed] ], and - if you’ve got time to fill this weekend - spend some time and money supporting yours?
Bumper crop
In case you missed it, we had a busy week on Substack, publishing four fantastic reads for our subscribers. Our external affairs manager James Coldwell [ [link removed] ] took a look at the Fabian Society’s conference, while our campaigns director Cal Roscow [ [link removed] ] got stuck into the topic of water bills.
We also had great pieces from Frank McKenna [ [link removed] ], CEO of Downtown in Business, on the economic own goal of net zero migration, and Toby Helm [ [link removed] ], on whether Starmer might choose to step down.
If all this sounds like your cup of tea, why not have a think about taking out a subscription to the Best for Britain Wire?
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A decade on from the Brexit referendum (how time flies) and we now know that leaving the EU has damaged our economy, reduced GDP by 6-8% [ [link removed] ], and weakened our standing in the world. With the anniversary of the vote approaching, it’s no wonder we’re all starting to reflect on what it has meant for us.
This week, Ian Dunt outlined the case [ [link removed] ] for (whisper it) rejoining the EU in a piece for the i paper marking the upcoming decennial. As he writes: Europe “is our part of the world. We will necessarily prioritise trade with it, because it is closer to us. Our security arrangements are necessarily bound up in it, because we are one continent. Our history and sense of identity is defined by it, because of the things we have gone through together and the ideas we share about how to constitute society.” One to ponder as we look back - and forward - over the upcoming months.
Cheerful News of the Week
Thankfully, the world of science has brought us some genuinely good news in these otherwise turbulent times. Spanish scientists [ [link removed] ] have developed a treatment that eliminates pancreatic tumours in preclinical studies.
Pancreatic cancer is one of the deadliest cancers and is known for quickly developing resistance to drug treatments. While the research has not yet moved to human trials, this breakthrough offers hope that scientists are one step closer to finding a cure.
We now turn to the conveyor belt of former Tory MPs jumping ship defecting to Reform UK, for what Andrew Marr described “perhaps the least surprising piece of political news so far this year”. Yes, Suella Braverman, former home secretary, has joined Farage and co.
However, with her face at the press conference [ [link removed] ] announcement looking eerily similar to when a superfan gets invited onto the stage at their idol’s concert, you’d be forgiven for thinking, surely, she’s already made the leap. One for the Best for Britain tracker [ [link removed] ]…
Next week is already looking busy, with World Cancer Day, the start of the Winter Olympics in Milan, and elections in Portugal, Thailand and Japan - as well as the start of the Six Nations.
Have a good one.
Jessica Frank-Keyes
Head of Press
Best for Britain
With thanks to Laurena Rodriguez

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