Relations between Europe and the US are at an all-time low, so merely keeping things together as French President Emmanuel Macron did at the White House yesterday stands as an achievement, that is how bad it is getting.
Macron managed to navigate what could have been a tricky day in Washington without conceding or revealing too much.
But it was more than that as he seemed to get one over on Donald Trump.
The glare on Donald Trump’s face, as his French counterpart explains why Vladimir Putin must pay for the invasion of Ukraine, is sublime.
A better view here…
Macron’s actions went down very well with many people.
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Starmer Aid
It comes as Labour leader Keir Starmer announced a big cut to UK aid budget to boost defence spending. The prime minister confirmed that the rise – about £13.4bn more every year from 2027 – would be paid for by a “painful choice” to cut the aid budget, from 0.5% to 0.3% of GDP.
Starmer told MPs: “That is not an announcement I am happy to make.
“We will do everything we can to return to a world where that is not the case, and rebuild a capability on development, but at times like this the defence and security of the British people must always come first.
“That is the number one priority of this government.”
In response, Hannah Bond, the CEO of ActionAid UK, said: “there is no justification for abandoning the world’s most marginalised” and – referencing similar cuts that have been made to USAID across the Atlantic – that such reductions “only deepen harm to civilians caught in conflict.”
Additionally, Plan International UK says the news “comes at the worst possible time” and questions a pledge made in Labour’s party manifesto: “In their election manifesto, the government committed to returning the UK aid budget to 0.7% of GNI [gross national income], yet this is clearly now a broken promise.”
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