Gibraltar Chief Minister Fabian Picardo held his first formal bilateral meeting with Prime Minister Keir Starmer on Thursday. The ongoing negotiations for a UK - EU Gibraltar agreement and support for Gibraltar were the main issues discussed.
It was a grand finale for the two days Joint Ministerial Council held in London between the democratic representatives from Britain’s Overseas Territories and the new UK government’s cabinet ministers, chaired by Foreign minister Stephen Doughty. In effect, Prime Minister Keir Starmer addressed the group at the end of the event, reaffirming his government’s commitment to the OTs and the principle, “nothing about you, without you”. The Prime Minister also mentioned the Falkland Islands, when remembering his family’s despair during the 1982 war, after HMS Antilope went down with much loss of lives, and hours later it was reported that Starmer’s mother brother, miraculously survived.
“Just to be clear, reparations are not on the agenda for the Commonwealth heads of government meeting. Technically, the (UK) Government's position on this has not changed. We do not pay reparations,” said Downing Street official spokesperson, when asked what PM Keir Starmer's view on paying reparations for Britain's involvement in the slave trade was.
Trouble ahead for King Charles and PM Keir Starmer when they attend the Commonwealth Heads of Government meeting in Samoa on October 21st. A group of fifteen Caribbean governments have unanimously decided to demand an incredible £200 billion from the UK in compensation for its role in the slave trade, according to reports in the British media.
British Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer made a conclusive statement of support for the Falkland Islands during the Prime Minister's Questions on Wednesday, hoping to put an end to speculations over the future of British Overseas Territories following on the decision to hand the Chagos archipelago sovereignty (British Indian Ocean Overseas Territory) to the Republic of Mauritius.
The Government of Labour Prime Minister Keir Starmer agreed Thursday to hand over sovereignty over the British Indian Ocean Territory Chagos Islands to Mauritius after two years of talks to bring to an end a dispute lasting some six decades. As per the new understanding, the UK and the United States get to keep using the military base in Diego García Island, British Foreign Secretary David Lammy explained.
UK Labour chancellor Rachel Reeves anticipated that the government of PM Keir Starmer will have to raise some taxes in October's Budget, following the claim on Monday that the previous Tory government left a £22bn hole in the public finances.
Sir Keir Starmer's new cabinet will meet for the first time on Saturday morning - the first full day of Labour being in power, points out a BBC report. Rachel Reeves is the UK's first female chancellor, while Deputy Prime Minister Angela Rayner is also among a record 11 women in the team of 25. Sir Keir appointed his cabinet on Friday after Labor's landslide election win, and in his first speech as PM said the work of change “begins immediately”.
U.K.’s Labour Party is on course to win a huge parliamentary majority in the country’s general election, putting an end to 14 years of Conservative governments. Labour is forecasted to have a majority of 166 seats in the House of Commons.
This Thursday's 4 general election in the United Kingdom could prove catastrophic for the Conservative Party and influence its future evolution. After 14 years in office, the Tories appear destined for what experts call the worst general election result in its 190-year history. The dimensions of this defeat would be such that, according to the polls, the current prime minister Rishi Sunak could even become the first head of government to lose his seat in the Commons.