Sir Keir Starmer will kickstart talks on a new security pact with Poland today aimed at protecting the UK’s national security. His visit to Warsaw comes after the prime minister signed a new 100-year deal pledging the UK’s “steadfast support” to Ukraine.
Friday 17 January 2025 10:20, UK
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The UK will play its “full part” in peacekeeping in Ukraine, Sir Keir Starmer has said.
The prime minister told Sky News’ political editor Beth Rigby that the conflict with Russia was not just about “sovereignty in Ukraine” but about the impact it also had on the UK, including the cost of living crisis.
Sir Keir was speaking to Sky News while on a surprise visit to Ukraine on Thursday – his first since his party’s landslide election win six months ago.
The purpose of the trip was to discuss the next steps for Ukraine, with the situation now more uncertain following Donald Trump’s election victory in November.
Mr Trump, whose inauguration takes place on 20 January, has said he wants a peace deal between Russia and Ukraine within 100 days.
But some European leaders fear pushing Kyiv into a deal could lead to Ukraine ceding some of its territory to Vladimir Putin.
Sir Keir said he did not want “to get ahead of ourselves” but that the UK would play its “full part” in any peace negotiations – including by deploying British troops for peacekeeping.
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“Millionaires, not millions of pensioners” would likely be impacted by the Conservative Party’s proposal to means-test the pensions triple lock, the co-chair of the Conservative Party has told Sky News.
Yesterday, Tory leader Kemi Badenoch said her party would “look at means-testing” the system which guarantees that the state pension rises in line with average earnings, inflation or 2.5% – whichever is highest.
Nigel Huddleston said Ms Badenoch’s plan was not to get rid of the pensions triple lock.
“She said, look, millionaires probably shouldn’t get it. Millionaires, not millions of pensioners. Millionaires,” Mr Huddleston said.
“She’s got a record of commenting on this in the past… we probably do need to look at means testing at some of those levels, and I don’t think many viewers would disagree with that.
“Millionaires – do they really need that?”
Speaking to LBC on Thursday, Ms Badenoch said there were reasons to review the policy because “we don’t have a system that knows who should get what”.
She continued that although the triple lock was a Conservative policy, “we’ve got to give something to the next generation”.
Co-chair of the Conservative Party Nigel Huddleston has told Sky News Kemi Badenoch is “not a known quantity yet” after she said Nigel Farage had a “head start” on her.
Mr Farage’s Reform UK has overtaken the Tories in the opinion polls in recent days, and is closing in on Labour’s lead.
“Nigel Farage has been knocking around for 20-plus years,” Ms Badenoch said yesterday in her first major speech of 2025.
“He’s been leading all sorts of different parties, so he has had a head start.”
She also rejected a suggestion the Tories could merge with Reform UK to beat Labour in the next election.
Responding to her comments, Mr Huddleston told Sky News: “Nigel Farage has been around leading parties in this country really for about 20 years. So he’s a known character.
“Everybody knows Nigel Farage and he’s an impressive politician.
“Kemi has been leader for 10 weeks… she’s not a known quantity yet.”
However, he said that over time the public would “get to know Kemi”, describing her as a leader who “speaks her mind”.
“This is a marathon, not a sprint,” he added.
By Alexandra Rogers, political reporter
Kemi Badenoch has said the Conservatives will consider means-testing the pensions triple lock.
The Tory leader said her party would “look at means-testing” the system which guarantees that the state pension rises in line with average earnings, inflation or 2.5% – whichever is highest.
The Conservatives have long championed the triple lock – introduced by former chancellor George Osborne during the coalition government – but some senior Conservatives have recently hinted that it might not be sustainable in the long term.
Speaking to LBC, Ms Badenoch said there were reasons to review the policy because “we don’t have a system that knows who should get what”.
“We’re going to look at means-testing,” she said.
“Means-testing is something which we don’t do properly here. I’m someone who always said, for example, that millionaires should not be getting the winter fuel payment.”
She went on to say that although the the triple lock was a Conservative policy, “we’ve got to give something to the next generation”.
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Leader of the Liberal Democrats Sir Ed Davey has accused Reform UK and the Conservatives of being “weak and desperate” in their approach to Donald Trump, saying the US president-elect respects strength.
Sir Ed recommended that people read Trump’s The Art of the Deal as he held up a copy of the book on Sky News.
“What he says in that is if your opponent feels weak or desperate, then you can walk all over them. He really respects people who are stronger.
“The problem with people like Reform and the Conservatives, they are weak and desperate in the way they want to approach Donald Trump.
“We want to stand up for Britain and the best way of doing that is by making sure that we’re stronger with things like the customs union.”
Sir Ed has called on the government to negotiate “a brand new deal with the EU” that would have “at its heart, a new UK EU customs union”, telling Sky News the proposal is in part a response to the incoming US president (see previous post).
Leader of the Liberal Democrats Sir Ed Davey has told Sky News a new customs union deal with the EU would help the UK respond to a Trump presidency and grow the economy.
Sir Ed has called on the government to negotiate “a brand new deal with the EU” that would have “at its heart, a new UK EU customs union”.
He says the Liberal Democrats are pushing this proposal forward now “partly because of President Trump and because of the lack of growth in our economy”.
“Those are two big problems facing the UK – how to respond to President Trump and how to grow the economy.
“Negotiating a customs union with the EU answers both of those questions.
“We can be part of a more ambitious growth plan and it will also strengthen our hand in negotiations with President Trump.”
He also said it would “get rid of some of the red tape that our manufacturers particularly are facing when they export”.
Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy has said Labour is “taking the brakes off creative industries” with an uplift in investment.
She is announcing a £60m funding boost as she hosts the Creative Industries Growth Summit in Gateshead
“We’re announcing an uplift in support for a number of areas, including the North East, who are powering ahead with investment in film, music, fashion, video games,” Ms Nandy told Sky News.
“These are amongst the fastest growing industries in the UK. They are an incredible source of jobs and growth all over the country.
“But for too long they’ve had the brakes on and today we’re taking those brakes off and allowing them to motor ahead.
“We’re committing that the British Business Bank will increase the amount of support that is available to those businesses.”
Ms Nandy and Foreign Secretary David Lammy are also expected to launch the Soft Power Council today to facilitate government partnerships with the creative industries.
Labour is “making good on the promise” to enact recommendations from an inquiry into grooming gangs, Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy has told Sky News.
Asked whether Labour was committing to following all of the recommendations of the national grooming gangs inquiry carried out by Professor Alexis Jay, she said “a majority of them, absolutely, yes”.
But she said there are a few recommendations “where we are looking at the way in which we are implementing them”.
“We are looking at some of the recommendations to make sure that we implement them in spirit, in the right way, and do what Professor Jay wanted to happen.
“But there are a number of others where we’ve already committed, and we’re wasting no time in implementing them, particularly about mandatory reporting.”
None of the inquiry’s 20 recommendations were implemented until the government announced some measures last week.
However, Ms Nandy said she “utterly refutes” the idea that online intervention on the issue by tech billionaire and close ally of US president-elect Donald Trump, Elon Musk, accelerated government action.
“We brought forward the Children’s Wellbeing Bill a couple of weeks ago. That is legislation that we announced quite significantly in advance of any noise that we saw on social media.
“We’ve been very focused on this issue and it was part of our manifesto.”
Sir Keir Starmer will visit Poland on Friday for talks on a new security pact to protect the UK’s national security.
The new treaty is designed to protect Europe from Russian aggression, tackle people-smuggling gangs, and combat misinformation and cyber threats.
His visit comes following a surprise trip to Kyiv on Thursday, where the prime minister reiterated his support for Ukraine and suggested that British troops could be deployed to the country as part of peacekeeping efforts.
Ahead of the visit to Warsaw, Sir Keir said: “The UK and Poland are longstanding allies, and our cooperation stretches back for generations.
“With ever-increasing threats to Europe’s security, now is the time to take our partnership to the next level, so we can ensure we’re tackling the big issues that rebound on the British people at home – from Putin’s aggression to the vile people smuggling gangs trading in human misery.
“It is only through closer collaboration with our most important partners such as Poland that we’ll protect the UK’s national security – the key foundation on which I’ll deliver my plan for change.”
During his visit, Sir Keir will meet Polish businesses, including the firm InPost which has announced it will invest a further £600m into the UK in the next five years to grow its operations.
It is thought that the overall £1bn investment by the firm, which operates parcel lockers, could support up to 12,000 new jobs.
Good morning!
Welcome back to the Politics Hub on Friday, 17 January.
Sir Keir Starmer is travelling to Poland today for talks on a new security pact to protect the UK’s national security.
The new treaty, which the prime minister will discuss with Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk, is designed to protect Europe from Russian aggression, tackle people-smuggling gangs, and combat misinformation and cyber threats.
His visit follows a surprise trip to Kyiv on Thursday, where the prime minister reiterated his support for Ukraine and suggested that British troops could be deployed to the country as part of peacekeeping efforts.
Much focus will likely also be on the Middle East this morning, with Israel’s security cabinet due to meet to give final approval to a deal with Hamas for a ceasefire in Gaza and the release of hostages.
The ceasefire deal was announced on Wednesday evening after months of negotiations between Israel and the Palestinian militant group controlling the enclave.
It is due to come into effect on Sunday.
We’ll be discussing all of that and more with…
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