Keir Starmer is neither the kind of leader to light up Britain with a shining vision of the future, nor one of those populists who reheat supposedly glorious myths from a largely imaginary national past. On Tuesday, however, the prime minister proved there are few better than him at communicating the heavy weight of decisions that bear down on him – here and now – in the present world upheaval.
Indeed, from the funereal manner of his announcement, you might have been forgiven for thinking that he was saying something deeply unpopular. Yet polls have suggested for some time that about two-thirds of the public – especially those parts of it Labour fears losing to Reform – want less taxpayers’ money spent helping the poorest in the world. More funding of Britain’s defence is usually backed by voters who also strongly support Ukraine in its fight for freedom. And, most importantly of all, it has been the key demand of a president threatening to withdraw US security from Europe and whom Starmer meets at the White House on Thursday.
