Downing Street responds to Trump envoy’s criticism of Starmer’s Ukraine plans

Published

3 months ago

March 24, 2025

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Sir Keir Starmer is focused on a “durable peace”, Downing Street has said, after Donald Trump’s envoy to Ukraine dismissed his “coalition of the willing” plan.

Steve Witkoff – who is leading the US ceasefire negotiations with Ukraine and Russia – described the prime minister’s idea as “posture and pose” and accused him of adopting the “simplistic” notion that leaders “have all got to be like Winston Churchill”.

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Pushed by the UK and France, the “coalition of the willing” could see troops from a number of European and NATO countries deployed to Ukraine as peacekeepers after a ceasefire in order to deter Vladimir Putin from launching further attacks on its neighbour.

Sir Keir’s official spokesman defended the idea following Mr Witkoff’s comments, saying the PM remained “focused on the outcome of durable peace in Ukraine” and that he was working on the “planning phase” of the coalition.

He wouldn’t be drawn on whether the remarks were discussed in a phone call between the prime minister and Mr Trump on Sunday night.

He said the focus of their conversation was an “economic deal” with the US, but “we are engaging with the US at all levels on Ukraine”.

Mr Witkoff made the comments in an interview with pro-Trump journalist Tucker Carlson.

He told Mr Carlson he recently met with the Russian president in Moscow and “liked” him.

“I don’t regard Putin as a bad guy. I thought that he was straight up with me,” he said.

Chancellor Rachel Reeves defended the prime minister’s “diplomatic efforts” in bringing together European leaders after being shown the clip on the BBC’s Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg.

She said she was not “put off” by Mr Witkoff’s comments and any ceasefire “needs to be enforced” – and that’s what Sir Keir was focused on.

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Lib Dem leader Sir Ed Davey was more direct in his criticism, saying: “Trump’s so-called ‘special’ envoy might dismiss British leadership as pointless posturing, but we know what it really is.

“Britain leading in Europe again, as we have done in the greatest moments of our nation’s history.”

More than 30 countries now stand ready to enforce a peace deal in Ukraine as part of the “coalition of the willing”, Downing Street said last week.

This includes a “significant number” of countries that will provide troops on the ground, while others are ready to contribute logistics and background support.

Ceasefire talks aiming to end the conflict in Ukraine began today in Saudi Arabia, and both nations are expected to hold indirect talks mediated by the US.

The hope is that both sides will agree on pausing long-range attacks on energy facilities and civilian infrastructure.

Politics

Crypto’s path to legitimacy runs through the CARF regulation

Published

10 hours ago

July 5, 2025

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Crypto’s path to legitimacy runs through the CARF regulation

The CARF regulation, which brings crypto under global tax reporting standards akin to traditional finance, marks a crucial turning point.

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Tokenized equity still in regulatory grey zone — Attorneys

Published

10 hours ago

July 5, 2025

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Tokenized equity still in regulatory grey zone — Attorneys

The nascent real-world tokenized assets track prices but do not provide investors the same legal rights as holding the underlying instruments.

Politics

Rachel Reeves hints at tax rises in autumn budget after welfare bill U-turn

Published

16 hours ago

July 5, 2025

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Rachel Reeves hints at tax rises in autumn budget after welfare bill U-turn

Rachel Reeves has hinted that taxes are likely to be raised this autumn after a major U-turn on the government’s controversial welfare bill.

Sir Keir Starmer’s Universal Credit and Personal Independent Payment Bill passed through the House of Commons on Tuesday after multiple concessions and threats of a major rebellion.

MPs ended up voting for only one part of the plan: a cut to universal credit (UC) sickness benefits for new claimants from £97 a week to £50 from 2026/7.

Initially aimed at saving £5.5bn, it now leaves the government with an estimated £5.5bn black hole – close to breaching Ms Reeves’s fiscal rules set out last year.

In an interview with The Guardian, the chancellor did not rule out tax rises later in the year, saying there were “costs” to watering down the welfare bill.

“I’m not going to [rule out tax rises], because it would be irresponsible for a chancellor to do that,” Ms Reeves told the outlet.

“We took the decisions last year to draw a line under unfunded commitments and economic mismanagement.

“So we’ll never have to do something like that again. But there are costs to what happened.”

Meanwhile, The Times reported that, ahead of the Commons vote on the welfare bill, Ms Reeves told cabinet ministers the decision to offer concessions would mean taxes would have to be raised.

The outlet reported that the chancellor said the tax rises would be smaller than those announced in the 2024 budget, but that she is expected to have to raise tens of billions more.

It comes after Ms Reeves said she was “totally” up to continuing as chancellor after appearing tearful at Prime Minister’s Questions.

Criticising Sir Keir for the U-turns on benefit reform during PMQs, Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch said the chancellor looked “absolutely miserable”, and questioned whether she would remain in post until the next election.

Sir Keir did not explicitly say that she would, and Ms Badenoch interjected to say: “How awful for the chancellor that he couldn’t confirm that she would stay in place.”

In her first comments after the incident, Ms Reeves said she was having a “tough day” before adding: “People saw I was upset, but that was yesterday.

“Today’s a new day and I’m just cracking on with the job.”

Sir Keir also told Sky News’ political editor Beth Rigby on Thursday that he “didn’t appreciate” that Ms Reeves was crying in the Commons.

“In PMQs, it is bang, bang, bang,” he said. “That’s what it was yesterday.

“And therefore, I was probably the last to appreciate anything else going on in the chamber, and that’s just a straightforward human explanation, common sense explanation.”