Keir Starmer to be questioned by Liaison Committee, Number 10 confirms links to Trump
Good morning. It’s the last day of the House of Commons before the Christmas recess and the main event will take place in a committee room at Portdeley House, where Keir Starmer will meet with the Liaison Committee (“Prefects Club” ) conducts a first question meeting, which includes the chairs of all other House of Commons select committees. For 90 minutes, he will answer questions about the economy, public services and global affairs from MPs who know their subject well. Most of them are Labor MPs, but they include people who only became select committee chairs because, although they were frontbenchers before the election, they were not appointed ministers, so the assumption is that they are all Starmer loyalists. Wrong.
In theory, 90 minutes of intelligent questioning with the Prime Minister should generate quite a bit of news. Indeed, past Liaison Committee hearings have often failed to achieve anything other than repeating familiar No 10 lines. But we live in hope.
Ties with the US are almost certain to come up, with Starmer likely to be questioned about an overnight report suggesting Starmer was strengthening ties with the incoming Donald Trump administration. Starmer and Trump had a phone call yesterday. In its reading, No. 10 explain:
The Prime Minister began by congratulating President-elect Trump on his recent team appointments, and President-elect Trump warmly recalled his meeting with His Royal Highness the Prince of Wales in Paris earlier this month.
Both sides agreed on the common goal of strengthening the close and historic relationship between the UK and the US. They look forward to working together on shared priorities, including international security and achieving economic growth and prosperity.
No 10 did not reveal which Trump appointment Starmer praised. Some of them shocked progressive views around the world. CBS provides a helpful list of them all.
Overnight, the Daily Telegraph and The Sun revealed that Starmer’s chief of staff, Morgan McSweeney, traveled to the United States last week for talks with the Trump team. The Guardian confirmed the story. In his Telegraph story Ben Reilly Smith explain:
Morgan McSweeney traveled to Florida to meet with political strategist Susie Wiles, who planned Trump’s reelection campaign and will serve as Trump’s chief of staff.
Mr. McSweeney also held policy discussions in Washington with Mike Waltz, the congressman appointed as Mr. Trump’s next national security adviser.
Riley-Smith also cited “Senior Downing Street source” Summarize the position.
The mood music is very warm. President Trump is passionate about Britain.
As the end of the year approaches, Starmer’s team believes the UK is well-positioned to build strong bilateral relationships with the new presidency.
(Do they really talk like this at Westminster? I fear they do.)
In his version of the story, Harry Cole Starmer’s national security adviser Jonathan Powell also attended the meeting, The Sun reported.
This is the agenda for the day.
9.30am: Environment Secretary Steve Reid takes questions in the House of Commons.
11.30am: Downing Street holds lobby briefing.
2.30pm: Keir Starmer gives evidence to the Liaison Committee.
At some point today we also expect Downing Street to publish a new list of peers.
If you would like to contact me, please leave a comment below or message me on social media. I can’t read all messages BTL, but if you put “Andrew” in a message for me, I’m more likely to see it because I search for posts containing that word.
If you want to report something urgently, it’s best to use social media. You can contact me on Bluesky at @andrewsparrowgdn. The Guardian has stopped posting from its official account on and reply when necessary.
I find it very helpful when readers point out mistakes, even minor typos. No error is too small to be corrected. I find your question interesting as well. I can’t promise to reply to all emails, but I will try to respond to as many as possible, whether in BTL or sometimes on the blog.
key events
John Healey suggests British troops could start training Ukrainian troops in Ukraine
British troops could start training Ukrainian troops on Ukraine soil John HealyThe Secretary of Defense recommended. He revealed this in an interview Larissa Brown In The Times. Brown wrote in her story:
John Healy It said the UK needed to “make training more relevant to the needs of Ukrainians” and opened the door to training taking place in the war-torn country rather than the UK.
“us [need to] Making it easier for Ukrainians to access us [need to] Work with the Ukrainians to help them inspire and mobilize more recruits,” he told The Times during a visit to Ukraine.
Asked whether this meant extending the training of Ukrainian recruits in the UK to Ukraine itself, he said: “We will do everything we can to respond to the needs of Ukrainians. They are the ones we are fighting for.
Keir Starmer According to PA Media, he met with the Sultan of Brunei in Downing Street. PA said:
The Prime Minister greeted Alhaji Hassanal Bolkiah at the gate of No. 10.
They then held a meeting at the White House.
Starmer praised the “strong relationship” between the two countries.
He said he and Sudan would discuss renewing the troop agreement between the two countries, as well as broader trade and security issues.
Urgent questions about hospice funding will be raised in the House of Commons at 10.30am. The proposal was put forward by shadow health secretary Caroline Johnson. She may hope to clear up confusion about how the government will compensate hospices for the extra staff costs they incur as a result of increases in employer state insurance budgets, and when the announcement will be made. Yesterday, Health Minister Wes Streeting said a decision would be made before Christmas. But speaking at PMQs, Keir Starmer said it would come in the New Year.
Next, there are speeches by four ministers. After Commons Leader Lucy Powell made her usual statement on upcoming business on Thursday, we got:
Average water bills in England and Wales set to rise 36% in five years
Water bills in England and Wales are set to rise by 36% over the next five years as suppliers are accused of forcing struggling households to pay for years of underinvestment in repairing leaky pipes and cutting pollution. Jasper Jolly and Helena Horton Report.
What No. 10 said about Starmer’s conversation with Trump yesterday
For the record, here’s No. 10’s full report on yesterday’s conversation between Keir Starmer and Donald Trump.
The Prime Minister spoke to President-elect Donald Trump in Downing Street this afternoon.
The Prime Minister began by congratulating President-elect Trump, who warmly recalled his meeting with His Royal Highness the Prince of Wales in Paris earlier this month, on his recent team appointments.
Both sides agreed on the common goal of strengthening the close and historic relationship between the UK and the US. They look forward to working together on shared priorities, including international security and achieving economic growth and prosperity.
Turning to the global conflict, the Prime Minister reiterated the need for allies to stand with Ukraine in the face of Russian aggression and ensure that Ukraine is in the strongest possible position.
Regarding the Middle East, the Prime Minister stressed the need for joint efforts to ensure peace and security in the region.
They agreed to keep in touch and looked forward to meeting soon.
Keir Starmer to be questioned by Liaison Committee, Number 10 confirms links to Trump
Good morning. It’s the last day of the House of Commons before the Christmas recess and the main event will take place in a committee room at Portdeley House, where Keir Starmer will meet with the Liaison Committee (“Prefects Club” ) conducts a first question meeting, which includes the chairs of all other House of Commons select committees. For 90 minutes, he will answer questions about the economy, public services and global affairs from MPs who know their subject well. Most of them are Labor MPs, but they include people who only became select committee chairs because, although they were frontbenchers before the election, they were not appointed ministers, so the assumption is that they are all Starmer loyalists. Wrong.
In theory, 90 minutes of intelligent questioning with the Prime Minister should generate quite a bit of news. Indeed, past Liaison Committee hearings have often failed to achieve anything other than repeating familiar No 10 lines. But we live in hope.
Ties with the US are almost certain to come up, with Starmer likely to be questioned about an overnight report that suggested Starmer was strengthening ties with the incoming Donald Trump administration. Starmer and Trump had a phone call yesterday. In its reading, No. 10 explain:
The Prime Minister began by congratulating President-elect Trump on his recent team appointments, and President-elect Trump warmly recalled his meeting with His Royal Highness the Prince of Wales in Paris earlier this month.
Both sides agreed on the common goal of strengthening the close and historic relationship between the UK and the US. They look forward to working together on shared priorities, including international security and achieving economic growth and prosperity.
No 10 did not reveal which Trump appointment Starmer praised. Some of them shocked progressive views around the world. CBS provides a helpful list of all the names.
Overnight, the Daily Telegraph and The Sun revealed that Starmer’s chief of staff, Morgan McSweeney, traveled to the United States last week for talks with the Trump team. The Guardian confirmed the story. In his Telegraph story Ben Reilly Smith explain:
Morgan McSweeney traveled to Florida to meet with political strategist Susie Wiles, who planned Trump’s reelection campaign and will serve as Trump’s chief of staff.
Mr. McSweeney also held policy discussions in Washington with Mike Waltz, the congressman appointed as Mr. Trump’s next national security adviser.
Riley-Smith also cited “Senior Downing Street source” Summarize the position.
The mood music is very warm. President Trump is passionate about Britain.
As the end of the year approaches, Starmer’s team believes the UK is well-positioned to build strong bilateral relationships with the new presidency.
(Do they really talk like this at Westminster? I fear they do.)
In his version of the story, Harry Cole Starmer’s national security adviser Jonathan Powell also attended the meeting, The Sun reported.
This is the agenda for the day.
9.30am: Environment Secretary Steve Reid takes questions in the House of Commons.
11.30am: Downing Street holds lobby briefing.
2.30pm: Keir Starmer gives evidence to the Liaison Committee.
At some point today we also expect Downing Street to publish a new list of peers.
If you would like to contact me, please leave a comment below or message me on social media. I can’t read all messages BTL, but if you put “Andrew” in a message for me, I’m more likely to see it because I search for posts containing that word.
If you want to report something urgently, it’s best to use social media. You can contact me on Bluesky at @andrewsparrowgdn. The Guardian has stopped posting from its official account on and reply when necessary.
I find it very helpful when readers point out mistakes, even minor typos. No error is too small to be corrected. I find your question interesting as well. I can’t promise to reply to all emails, but I will try to respond to as many as possible, whether in BTL or sometimes on the blog.