Afternoon summary
Keir Starmer is chairing a meeting of the government’s Cobra emergency committee to consider how the government deals with the economic consequences of the Iran war. Giving evidence to the Commons liaison committee earlier, he said that he had told his team that they should plan “on the basis that it could go on for some time” (see 2.42pm) and he hinted that any programme to help people with energy bills would be targeted at those most in need (see 3.35pm).
Starmer has delivered a veiled rebuke to Donald Trump over the president’s repeated insults about him recently, suggesting to the liaison committee that these comments have been made “to put pressure on me” and that he has been refusing to respond directly because he is “unapologetic” about remaining “utterly focused” on his job. (See 4.47pm.) Starmer did not refer to Trump by name, but this is about the closest he has come to a considered response to Trump’s numerous provocations, which have included the president yesterday posting on his Truth Social platform a TV sketch mocking Starmer as afraid of him. (See 9.31am.)
For a full list of all the stories covered on the blog today, do scroll through the list of key event headlines near the top of the blog.
