UK PM Keir Starmer’s call with Anthony Albanese, backs AUKUS
Sir Keir Starmer has had his first phone call with Australian PM Anthony Albanese, where the two discussed our relationship with the UK and their priorities.
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Sir Keir Starmer met King Charles, spoke to world leaders including Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and announced his new cabinet, which included a few surprise choices, on his first day as Britain’s new prime minister.
Mr Albanese said the two had “a lot of work to do as we grow our economies, advance AUKUS, and seize the opportunities of the global clean energy transformation”, in a statement posted to X.
“They have very similar views to us on a range of issues,” Mr Albanese wrote.
Official note of the call between 🇬🇧 Prime Minister @Keir_Starmer & 🇦🇺 Prime Minister @albo ⤵ï¸https://t.co/tKGgR6EDzJhttps://t.co/MTj4fC2FCNpic.twitter.com/t9cG3CO0dB
— Vicki Treadell (@VickiTreadell) July 7, 2024
When Sir Keir spoke to Mr Albanese on Saturday, a Downing Street spokeswoman confirmed: “The Prime Minister thanked the Australian leader for kind words of congratulations on his election victory.
“Looking ahead to the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting in Samoa later this year, the leaders discussed key challenges facing the region, including strategic competition and climate change.
“He [Sir Keir] added that he hoped to build on the already strong AUKUS partnership between the UK, Australia and the US. The leaders agreed to stay in close touch.”
He said they also discussed Ukraine and the crisis in the Middle East.
This afternoon I was pleased to speak with new UK Prime Minister @Keir_Starmer.
— Anthony Albanese (@AlboMP) July 6, 2024
We have a lot to work on together as we grow our economies, advance AUKUS, and seize the opportunities of the global clean energy transformation.
We also discussed the international strategic outlook, including conflict in the Middle East and Russia’s illegal invasion of Ukraine.
— Anthony Albanese (@AlboMP) July 6, 2024
BLAIR’S WARNING ON IMMMIGRATION
It came as Sir Tony Blair urged the new prime minister to come up with a plan for controlling immigration to turn the tide on populism, warning: “If we don’t have rules, we get prejudices.”
In an article for The Sunday Times, the former PM, who led Labour to its biggest victory, offered “a three-pronged solution” to the threat posed by Nigel Farage’s Reform, which got 4.1 million votes in the election and won five seats.
Sir Tony said the new government’s focus should be on illegal migration, law and order and avoiding “any vulnerability on wokeism”.
He also likened Britain to France where “traditional political parties are suffering disruption” and “new entrants” are “running riot”.
Meanwhile, Nigel Farage and his crew of Reform MPs are said to be planning a “Reservoir Dogs-style” display of force on the first day of parliament.
Party insiders told The Sun the victorious five seat winners will walk in together like the famous scene in the Quentin Tarantino movie.
A source close to Farage, who won in Clacton, told The Sun: “Nigel asked the voters of Clacton to send him to parliament to be a bloody nuisance.“That is exactly what he intends to do.”
NEW PM’S FIRST DAY
Sir Keir began his first full day in charge declaring the ousted Tories’ plan to deport migrants to Rwanda “dead and buried” and pledging growth as his government’s “number one mission”.
He said he was “restless for change” and that his party had received a “mandate to do politics differently”.
“We have a huge amount of work to do, so now we get on with our work,” he told his top team to applause and smiles around the cabinet table.
At a news conference afterwards he said he would not be proceeding with former Conservative prime minister Rishi Sunak’s controversial scheme to tackle rising small boat arrivals on England’s southern coast by deporting migrants to Rwanda.
“The Rwanda scheme was dead and buried before it started... I’m not prepared to continue with gimmicks that don’t act as a deterrent,” he told reporters at his 10 Downing Street office.
But he won’t have much time to settle into life in 10 Downing Street before facing his first serious test.
At a NATO meeting in Washington next week, the Labour leader will have to tread a careful line in trying to build a relationship with US President Joe Biden, increasingly looking like a dead man walking since his disastrous performance in the US election debate, while not upsetting Donald Trump.
Although it might already be too late.
The former president chose to congratulate right wing populist Mr Farage, whose anti-immigration start-up party Reform won five seats from four million votes, or 14.3 per cent of total votes cast while ignoring Sir Keir’s landslide victory.
Labour won 412 seats, the Conservatives 121 and the Liberal Democrats 71, with one seat still to be declared.
“Congratulations to Nigel Farage on his big WIN of a Parliament Seat Amid Reform UK Election Success. Nigel is a man who truly loves his Country!” Trump wrote.
Sir Keir’s choice of Foreign Minister, David Lammy, who previously described the 45th president as a “neo-Nazi-sympathising sociopath”, would not have gone unnoticed either by Mr Trump.
It could pose a problem for the so-called ‘special relationship’ if the Republican candidate wins a second term in November.
Israel’s President Isaac Herzog and Ukraine’s Volodymyr Zelensky also thanked the former Conservative PM Rishi Sunak, while congratulating Sir Keir.
Meanwhile, Irish taoiseach, Simon Harris, said it was time for “a great reset”.
The Irish issue looks set to be another test for the PM after the republican party Sinn Fein won the majority of seats in Northern Ireland and talked up a referendum on a united Ireland.
At least Sir Keir won’t have to worry about Scottish independence after Labour almost wiped out the Scottish Nationalist Party, leaving them with just nine seats.
Wales also turned red, after 14 Conservatives lost their seats there.
Sir Keir, only the seventh Labour UK prime minister ever, revealed a new cabinet with a number of females in high profile roles, the most significant being Rachel Reeves who is the first woman to take charge of the Treasury.
In a surprise move Sir Keir chose two outsiders. Lawyer Richard Hermer is the new Attorney-General. The KC has previously taken cases against British governments.
And, James Timpson, CEO of his father’s shoe repair chain, is the new Prisons Minister. He has been applauded for his work rehabilitating offenders, employing 600 former prisoners.
Yvette Cooper is Home Secretary, and will be responsible for solving the migrant crisis, one of the biggest challenges facing Labour. Sir Keir pledged to scrap the Tories’ Rwanda deportation scheme on day one and set up a new border security command to stop the small boats coming over from France.
Other issues Labour will have to tackle is cost of living and health.
Wes Streeting, the new Health Secretary will look to make GPs and specialists work at the weekends, to help reduce long waiting lists and resolve the junior doctors strikes.
Meanwhile, the former Conservative prime minister Boris Johnson urged his party not to absorb Reform, which stole four seats from Tory candidates.
Dr Patrick Leslie from the School of Politics and International Relations at ANU said it was actually the Liberal Democrats which had the biggest impact on Conservative losses, winning 60 of their seats.
“In their obsession to cover the right flank, they lost the centre ground to the Lib Dems,” Dr Leslie said about the Conservative’s election strategy.
Possible new leaders of the opposition include Tom Tugendhat, a centrist, and Kemi Badenoch and Suella Braverman on the right.
Sir Keir is unlikely to worry too much about the Conservatives for a while, however, with his own party more likely to cause him issues, with many on the left concerned about his stance on Gaza, which actually cost Labour in some Muslim-dominated areas.
Dr Leslie said in terms of infighting within the swollen Labour ranks around 200 will probably be pretty loyal to Sir Keir, having won their seats afresh.
One of those newbies is Sam Carling, who is just 22, and likely to be the “baby of the House” - the unofficial title given to the youngest member of the House of Commons.
Old hand, John McDonnell, however, could be a thorn in Sir Keir’s side.
He has already made demands, saying he wants the government to abolish the two child cap on child benefits by the start of next year.
“They’ve not even sat down in parliament yet and he’s already giving Keir Starmer red lines,” Dr Leslie said.
“It’s going to be a nightmare for the chief whip.”
While Sir Keir will bring change to Downing Street, Larry the cat will be waiting for him.
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