Summary of the day …
Downing Street has issued a read-out of a meeting that prime minister Keir Starmer held last night with Donald Trump’s special envoy to the UK, former television producer Mark Burnett, during which, it says, Starmer spoke to the US president on the phone
Ukraine remains on “an irreversible path” towards Nato membership, Starmer has told Volodymyr Zelenskyy in a phone call Friday morning that underlined the divide between Europe and the US over the future of the country
Foreign secretary David Lammy held a bilateral meeting with US vice-president JD Vance in Munich at the sidelines of the Munic Security Conference. Afterwards Lammy said “there was an agreement that Zelenskyy and the Ukrainians have to be part of that negotiated deal”. Trump’s sudden push for peace has caused concern at what concession Ukraine might be forced into, with Emmanuel Macron saying a peace deal would amount to “capitulation”. Liberal Democrat leader Ed Davey said Starmer should “seize the moment and ensure that Trump’s plans to lock Ukraine, the UK and European allies out of decisions about our shared future do not succeed”
Science secretary Peter Kyle said the UK needs “cool, clear thinking” over the threat of new trade tariffs being imposed by the Trump administration in the US
Rachel Reeves has said that the British public will judge her on her performance, not on what is on her LinkedIn CV, as well as repeating that there had been no complaints about her expenses during her time at a commercial bank. Opposition leader Kemi Badenoch claimed Reeves had “some very, very serious questions to answer”. Science secretary Kyle accused the BBC of “totally inaccurate” reporting on the matter
The Liberal Democrats have said that the water regulator, Ofwat, is not fit to hold privatised water companies in England and Wales to account after it emerged that Thames Water is to appeal to the UK’s competition regulator to be allowed to raise customers’ bills over the next five years even higher than previously granted
Badenoch has launched a formal bid to keep local elections scheduled for some areas of England this May, as shadow cabinet member Kevin Hollinrake warned cancelling them was “entirely wrong”. Deputy prime minister Angela Rayner announced the delay to elections across nine areas earlier this month, telling the Commons: “We’re not in the business of holding elections to bodies that won’t exist”
That is it from me, Martin Belam, for today. Thank you for all your comments. I will be back with you next week.
The blog so far today has mercifully stayed clear of references to Valentine’s Day, but that doesn’t mean that political parties and politicians haven’t been using it as a cue to campaign. As I am wrapping up shortly I thought I would share a few of the highlights (or lowlights, depending on how you view this sort of thing).
Plaid Cymru have taken the opportunity to suggest that if you love Wales, then today is a great day to join their party.
♥️ Happy #ValentinesDay! ♥️
— Plaid Cymru 🏴 (@Plaid_Cymru) February 14, 2025
Show some love to our #Wales by joining Plaid Cymru today - https://t.co/wYaoyOipok 🥰
Anfonwch gariad i Gymru drwy ymuno â Phlaid Cymru heddiw - https://t.co/7vrndZA4wu 🥰
♥️ Dydd San Ffolant Hapus! ♥️ pic.twitter.com/ZO4SCO4V7L
Wendy Morton, the Conservative shadow minister for foreign affairs and MP for Aldridge-Brownhills in the West Midlands has spotted a topical post box topper …
Just spotted in Streetly this morning.
— Wendy Morton MP (@morton_wendy) February 14, 2025
Happy Valentine's Day! pic.twitter.com/Zd9LDyrBtE
And I regret to inform you that poetry has broken out on the social media account of the Scottish Conservatives, where they have been claiming there is an “SNP/Labour” love affair, posting:
Roses are red.
Violets are blue.
If John backs something,
Anas probably does too.
Roses are red.
— Scottish Conservatives (@ScotTories) February 14, 2025
Violets are blue.
If John backs something, Anas probably does too. pic.twitter.com/hWa3BapZKD
The Liberal Democrats were also at the poetry game, suggesting overtures between Kemi Badenoch’s Conservative party towards Reform UK and its leader Nigel Farage. They wrote a poem from her to him, with the idea that Farage might be appointed chancellor in a Badenoch Tory-Reform pact government mocked up as if it was the offer inside a card.
Roses are red,
Our parties are blue,
They say I’m finished,
Can I make a pact with you?
But to finish on a more wholesome note, somebody appears to have sent flowers to Jennie, who is, of course, the ever-popular guide dog to Torbay’s Liberal Democrat MP Steve Darling.
Who’s the awesome secret admirer who sent me these stunning flowers? 💐 Whoever you are, you made this doggy very, very happy! 😉🐶 #mystery #flowers #thankyou pic.twitter.com/PT1BUQi1KB
— Rt Hon Jennie (@RtHonJen) February 14, 2025
