Starmer says he’s ‘fed up’ with Trump and Putin’s actions pushing up energy bills for Britons – UK politics live

Prime minister explicitly blames US president for British consumers’ higher bills as he concludes tour of Gulf statesFour weeks today Keir Starmer, and all his ministers and MPs, will be starting to assess the results of the Scottish parliament, Welsh Senedd and English local elections. The elections are on the Thursday, but most of the counting will start on the Friday and the full picture may not emerge until the weekend. No one expects the results will be anything other than grim for Labour.At one point it was assumed that the election results would trigger a Labour leadership challenge. But increasingly that seems unlikely. Wes Streeting, the health secretary and a likely future contender, recently told the Guardian that a leadership contest shouldn’t, and probably won’t, happen. And Lucy Powell, the Labour deputy leader, has now said Labour members are firmly against the idea.Some kind of messy, bloody internal contest is not going to help us address [the issues that matter to voters] … I think the membership would take a very dim view of [a leadership contest].The prime minister spoke to President Trump from Qatar this evening.The prime minister set out his discussions with Gulf leaders and military planners in the region on the need to restore freedom of navigation in the Strait of Hormuz, as well as the UK’s efforts to convene partners to agree a viable plan. Continue reading...