While Sir Keir Starmer continues efforts to rally allies in support of Ukraine, the Tory leader has been launching her party’s local elections campaign.
Thursday 20 March 2025 17:41, UK
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We can now bring you some more comments from Sir Keir Starmer speaking today about Ukraine.
He says he wants to turn “political intention into reality” and “concepts into plans” in regard to how the UK and its allies can aid Ukraine following any potential peace deal.
“None of this is taken as a given,” he adds. “We hope there will be a deal. But what I do know is that if there is a deal, that the time for planning is now. It’s not after a deal is reached.”
Starmer says he is clear that any deal “will only leave Ukraine secure and sovereign if there are security arrangements”.
Nestled through the Lake District in a port-town in Cumbria is the sprawling BAE Systems manufacturing site.
Inside their large metallic containers a new generation of nuclear-armed submarines are being carefully constructed to replace the old HMS Vanguard boats.
We were invited in to catch a rare glimpse of these subs and to see how they’re manufactured.
Any activity around a nuclear deterrent is so secretive that filming of the boats is tightly controlled and for some parts of the trip our phones were taken off us.
The decision to give access today was designed to signal to Moscow that the UK remains a nuclear-armed power.
Billions of pounds of British strength
The prime minister was here to lay the keel of these new Dreadnought submarines which will be ready in the early 2030s.
It’s part of a whole programme to renew the UK’s nuclear deterrent at a cost of more than £30bn, with an additional contingency of £10bn – it’s the UK’s most expensive and important procurement programme.
Dozens of workers in their hard hats lined the rafters above and dutifully applauded both the defence secretary and then the PM.
But they were not here today just to show British strength in the face of Russian aggression. Keir Starmer was also trying to marry the foreign issues with the domestic ones.
This is a prime minister who is inevitably spending so much time on defence, diplomacy, and security that he is now trying to link the two.
The PM made the case that all that work on national security and the increased defence spending will boost jobs.
He said it can help to upskill through apprenticeships and will provide investment to underserved areas all culminating in economic growth.
But he made the argument while trying to make a saving of £5bn by reforming welfare. It’s an uncomfortable and brutal cut to benefits which is making some Labour backbenchers queasy.
Will action follow the ceremony?
This is a bold strategy and one the government are keen to push. The prime minister pointed out that 1,000 new jobs have been created in Barrow since the summer.
It comes with a sweetener too – today the Port of Barrow also gets Royal status for its “unique and critical” contribution to national security.
So plenty of pomp, ceremony, and symbolism – but will action follow?
Sir Keir Starmer has warned Vladimir Putin will breach any peace deal “without anything behind it” in Ukraine.
The PM was speaking during a visit to a military base in Greater London where he said the work being doing by Ukraine’s allies to secure peace is “vitally important”.
“Last weekend and two weekends before that, we had groupings of international political leaders coming together to provide the political alignment and the collective agreement that we need to work together to ensure that any deal that is put in place is defended,” he said.
“What’s happening here is turning that political intention into reality, the concept into plans.”
He added: “It is vitally important we do that work because we know one thing for certain, which is a deal without anything behind it is something that Putin will breach.
“We know that because it happened before. I’m absolutely clear in my mind it will happen again”.
For context: Starmer is at the forefront of a group of countries known as the “coalition of the willing” which could provide boots on the ground in Ukraine in the event of a ceasefire.
Military leaders are discussing the idea in the UK today, as plans move to what Starmer calls an “operational phase”.
We’ve just heard from SNP leader John Swinney, who has been reacting to the news Nicola Sturgeon has been cleared of any wrongdoing in a police investigation into party finances.
The first minister says this will have been a “very difficult and challenging experience” for Sturgeon, who “will be relieved by the outcome of the proceedings today”.
Speaking more generally about the police investigation, Swinney says it has “of course” contributed to the difficult times recently faced by the party.
He says the SNP has been an “alleged victim of embezzlement” and the fact he is currently first minister is an indication of those difficulties.
But he says some “difficulties” experienced by the party as a consequence of the investigation “have now moved on”.
By Michael Drummond, foreign news reporter
Led by the UK and France, Sir Keir Starmer’s “coalition of the willing” could provide boots on the ground in Ukraine in the event of a ceasefire.
Military leaders are discussing the idea in the UK today, as plans move to what Starmer calls an “operational phase”.
What is a coalition of the willing?
The prime minister has said the UK, France and Ukraine will work together on a peace deal that could be presented to the US.
Countries in the coalition could end up sending soldiers to act as peacekeepers in Ukraine in the event of a ceasefire.
This approach would allow NATO members to act as a group but not under the NATO umbrella, avoiding vetoes from member states who don’t approve or don’t wish to be involved.
Starmer’s choice of the term “coalition of the willing” is perhaps meant to remind an American audience of a previous use of the same phrase: when the UK, Poland and other countries joined the US invasion of Iraq.
Which countries might be in?
The initiative is being led by the UK and France, so it seems a safe bet that both countries would be involved in the coalition.
Both have powerful militaries and the two nations are also the only countries in Europe with nuclear weapons.
The Baltic states – Estonia, Lithuania, and Latvia – are also likely to be involved. All four countries are in NATO and share borders with Russia.
Finland will “definitely” be part of the coalition, the country’s foreign minister said on 12 March.
Turkey, which has the second-largest army in NATO, is ready to send troops to Ukraine if necessary, according to a Turkish military source.
Despite fierce opposition from its government’s allies, Spain will take part in a European military mission to Ukraine, El Pais reported.
Not in Europe but a NATO member, Canada seems another potential contributor to the coalition of the willing, and Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has said he is “open” to sending troops too.
Who’s out?
Poland and Germany are among those not expected to send troops.
Poland has one of the strongest militaries in Europe and aims to spend 4.7% of its GDP on defence this year, well above the NATO target.
But it also has a long border with Ukraine and Belarus and is concerned about its own security.
As for Germany, a new government has not yet been formed after last month’s elections.
Outgoing Chancellor Olaf Scholz previously ruled out sending troops.
Italy is not sending troops at this stage, Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni said on 16 March following the virtual call with European leaders.
What about America?
The elephant in the room is the biggest contributor to NATO: the US.
The hope seems to be that the coalition of the willing initiative would persuade the US as the world’s most powerful military to pledge support as a backstop, to underwrite the peace deal.
It’s unclear so far what Washington’s response will be.
By Faye Brown, political reporter
The government can’t “shrug its shoulders” and pretend the welfare system is “progressive”, Sir Keir Starmer has said, as he again defended his benefit cuts.
The prime minister told Sky News political correspondent Serena Barker-Singh he understands why some of his backbenchers are uncomfortable, citing the cases of his late mother and brother.
“I’ve lived all my life with the impact of disability through my mum, who was very ill all her life,” he said.
“And more recently, my brother, who recently died of cancer, so I do understand the concerns.”
A No 10 spokesperson says “change is essential” in the House of Lords following today’s protests.
As we reported earlier, protesters forced proceedings in the chamber to stop this afternoon after entering shouting, “Lords out, people in”.
The protesters said they were acting on behalf of Assemble, an organisation that campaigns for the House of Lords to be abolished and replaced by a citizens’ assembly.
A spokesperson for No 10 said: “[Our] manifesto commitment remains. Protest is a matter for parliamentary security.
“Our commitment to reform the House of Lords remains in the long term. We are committed to replacing the House of Lords with a second chamber with a representative for regions and nations. Change is essential.”
In case you missed it earlier, here’s the moment protesters disrupted the House of Lords…
As we mentioned earlier, former Scottish first minister Nicola Sturgeon has been cleared in a police investigation looking into the SNP’s finances.
We’ve now received comments from Sturgeon, who says being cleared is “the outcome I would have always expected”.
Speaking outside her home near Glasgow today after she was cleared in relation to the police probe, Sturgeon said: “I am completely in the clear, that is the outcome I would always have expected.
“As I have said to all of you many times, I have done nothing wrong, so I was confident of reaching at this point and getting to this outcome.”
“I wish none of that had happened,” she added. “And I look forward to getting on with my life. I’ve got a year to go in parliament. I look forward to representing my constituency.”
Watch Sturgeon’s comments in full here…
Foreign Secretary David Lammy has just been speaking at the annual conference of the British Chambers of Commerce.
He tells business leaders in London that British growth “requires a new partnership between government and business”.
“You all are the lifeblood of our economy. You are the difference between stagnation and growth, and you are the energy on which the economy depends.”
He says the Labour government is banning “the culture of frivolity” and replacing it with one of “seriousness and purpose”.
“Because, let me emphasise, stability has to be in this government’s DNA,” he adds.
‘Three great geo-economic challenges’
The first of those challenges, Lammy says, is that the institutions built to manage the global economy are “clearly under deep stress and threat”.
He says the UK will “continue to support” World Trade Organisation rules but will also form a “new coalition of the willing” to build momentum behind initiatives that play to the British economy’s “present and future strengths”.
The second challenge, Lammy adds, is that industrial activism is “on the rise” and the “laissez-faire approach” to globalisation from 1989-2008 is “dead and buried”.
He says the UK must “turbocharge the relationships which will generate the greatest return on investment”, with the EU, China and US at “the top of that list”.
The third challenge is about tech. Lammy says the UK’s future success depends on its ability to harness changes in emerging technology like AI.
He says the UK must work with its partners to win the “technology race”.
Former Scottish first minister Nicola Sturgeon has been cleared in a police investigation into the SNP’s finances.
Sturgeon and former party treasurer Colin Beattie were both arrested in 2023 but released pending further investigation in the probe – named Operation Branchform by Police Scotland.
Both are no longer under investigation, police said.
The news comes after Sturgeon’s estranged husband and former SNP chief executive Peter Murrell appeared in court charged with embezzlement.
In a statement, Police Scotland said: “Following direction from the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service, criminal inquiries into two people arrested as part of the investigation into the funding and finances of the Scottish National Party have now concluded.
“The 73 year-old man arrested on April 18 2023, and the 54 year-old woman arrested on June 11 2023, have not been charged and are no longer under investigation.”
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