Keir Starmer welcomes Iran war ceasefire as he heads to Gulf to meet regional leaders
Good morning. Keir Starmer has welcomed the ceasefire agreement between the US and Iran. Here is Andrew Roth’s story about the overnight news.
And this is what Starmer has said, in a statement issued by No 10 this morning.
double quotation mark I welcome the ceasefire agreement reached overnight, which will bring a moment of relief to the region and the world.Together with our partners we must do all we can to support and sustain this ceasefire, turn it into a lasting agreement and re-open the Strait of Hormuz.
No 10 released this statement in a news release saying that he is travelling to the Gulf today “to meet with Gulf partners and discuss diplomatic efforts to support and uphold the ceasefire in order to bring about a lasting resolution to the conflict and protect the UK and global economy from further threats”.
This trip was arrangement before the ceasefire was announced, Downing Street has stressed. Starmer did not decide to hop on a plane after reading Donald Trump’s ceasefire announcement on Truth Social last night.
We don’t have details of where Starmer will be going, or who he will meet. But this is what Downing Street says about the purpose of the visit.
double quotation mark On the visit, the prime minister will make clear his government’s commitment to de-escalation, and hold further talks on practical efforts to restore freedom of navigation in the Strait of Hormuz following promising progress reported as a result of the ceasefire. As announced by the prime minister last week, the United Kingdom is continuing to lead the international effort, convening allies from across the world to ensure the Strait of Hormuz is reopened.He will also see in person the defensive support the UK has provided in the collective self-defence of our allies in the region and thank UK personnel for their brave service.
And we don’t know when we will hear or see Starmer – but, as soon as we do, you will read about it here.
Here are the other things happening today.
Morning: Sadiq Khan, the Labour mayor of London, is at an event announcing funding for youth clubs.
Morning: Ed Davey, the Lib Dem leader, is campaigning in Yorkshire.
Morning: Anas Sarwar, the Scottish Labour leader, is campaigning in Edinburgh, where he is talking about culture policy. John Swinney, the first minister and SNP leader, is visiting Na h-Eileanan an Iar (the Western Isles), and Russell Findlay, the Scottish Tory leader, is on a campaign visit in Ayrshire.
12.3pm: Richard Tice, Reform UK’s deputy leader, and Malcolm Offord, the party’s leader in Scotland, hold a press conference in Aberdeen.
Afternoon: Nigel Farage, the Reform UK leader, is on a visit in London.
At some point today the Welsh Liberal Democrats are launching their Senedd election campaign.
If you want to contact me, please post a message below the line when comments are open (between 10am and 3pm), or message me on social media. I can’t read all the messages BTL, but if you put “Andrew” in a message aimed at me, I am more likely to see it because I search for posts containing that word.
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Key events
Minister says ceasefire ’emerging news’ and ‘we need to see how that develops’
Sarah Jones, the policing minister, has been giving interviews. She has been talking about Keir Starmer’s visit to the Gulf, but hasn’t said anything that really adds to the (rather limited) information about the visit put out by Downing Street.
Jones told Times Radio:
double quotation mark [Starmer] is going to the Gulf for a number of reasons. Firstly you will have seen last week with the foreign secretary, and this week with our officials, where we have played a real leading role bringing together about 40 countries looking at the challenge that we have in the strait [of Hormuz] and how we can make sure that opens up as quickly as possible to bring some normality back to that system. so there will be that aspect.He wants to see the work of our brave personnel who are there in the region, of course, with our three very key principles of protecting British interests and protecting British citizens and our allies. He will want to see the work of that.
And, of course, this ceasefire is very much emerging breaking news. We need to see how that develops.
FTSE 100 rises as stock market opens after Iran ceasefire announcement
The FTSE 100 jumped by 268.28, or 2.59%, to 10,617.07 points after the London markets opened this morning, the Press Association reports. PA says traders and investors welcomed a conditional two-week ceasefire between the US and Iran. It came as the price of crude oil plunged in value, falling by around 14% in early trading.
Keir Starmer welcomes Iran war ceasefire as he heads to Gulf to meet regional leaders
Good morning. Keir Starmer has welcomed the ceasefire agreement between the US and Iran. Here is Andrew Roth’s story about the overnight news.
And this is what Starmer has said, in a statement issued by No 10 this morning.
double quotation mark I welcome the ceasefire agreement reached overnight, which will bring a moment of relief to the region and the world.Together with our partners we must do all we can to support and sustain this ceasefire, turn it into a lasting agreement and re-open the Strait of Hormuz.
No 10 released this statement in a news release saying that he is travelling to the Gulf today “to meet with Gulf partners and discuss diplomatic efforts to support and uphold the ceasefire in order to bring about a lasting resolution to the conflict and protect the UK and global economy from further threats”.
This trip was arrangement before the ceasefire was announced, Downing Street has stressed. Starmer did not decide to hop on a plane after reading Donald Trump’s ceasefire announcement on Truth Social last night.
We don’t have details of where Starmer will be going, or who he will meet. But this is what Downing Street says about the purpose of the visit.
double quotation mark On the visit, the prime minister will make clear his government’s commitment to de-escalation, and hold further talks on practical efforts to restore freedom of navigation in the Strait of Hormuz following promising progress reported as a result of the ceasefire. As announced by the prime minister last week, the United Kingdom is continuing to lead the international effort, convening allies from across the world to ensure the Strait of Hormuz is reopened.He will also see in person the defensive support the UK has provided in the collective self-defence of our allies in the region and thank UK personnel for their brave service.
And we don’t know when we will hear or see Starmer – but, as soon as we do, you will read about it here.
Here are the other things happening today.
Morning: Sadiq Khan, the Labour mayor of London, is at an event announcing funding for youth clubs.
Morning: Ed Davey, the Lib Dem leader, is campaigning in Yorkshire.
Morning: Anas Sarwar, the Scottish Labour leader, is campaigning in Edinburgh, where he is talking about culture policy. John Swinney, the first minister and SNP leader, is visiting Na h-Eileanan an Iar (the Western Isles), and Russell Findlay, the Scottish Tory leader, is on a campaign visit in Ayrshire.
12.3pm: Richard Tice, Reform UK’s deputy leader, and Malcolm Offord, the party’s leader in Scotland, hold a press conference in Aberdeen.
Afternoon: Nigel Farage, the Reform UK leader, is on a visit in London.
At some point today the Welsh Liberal Democrats are launching their Senedd election campaign.
If you want to contact me, please post a message below the line when comments are open (between 10am and 3pm), or message me on social media. I can’t read all the messages BTL, but if you put “Andrew” in a message aimed at me, I am more likely to see it because I search for posts containing that word.
If you want to flag something up urgently, it is best to use social media. You can reach me on Bluesky at @andrewsparrowgdn.bsky.social. The Guardian has given up posting from its official accounts on X, but individual Guardian journalists are there, I still have my account, and if you message me there at @AndrewSparrow, I will see it and respond if necessary.
I find it very helpful when readers point out mistakes, even minor typos. No error is too small to correct. And I find your questions very interesting too. I can’t promise to reply to them all, but I will try to reply to as many as I can, either BTL or sometimes in the blog.
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