THIS is the historic moment Sir Keir Starmer speaks on the phone to US President Joe Biden after becoming Britain’s new Prime Minister.
Biden congratulates the prime minister, saying the victory is “quite a victory” before insisting the two countries will continue their “special relationship.”
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Sir Keir told Biden – who was in the air on Air Force One at the time – that he was “looking forward” to meeting him face to face at the NATO anniversary summit next week in Washington, DC.
It will mark the newly appointed prime minister’s debut on the world stage and will be the first time he will meet with other leaders from around the world.
Biden, who has witnessed four UK prime ministers during his presidency, responded: “I’m looking forward to that too. There is no doubt that under your leadership, our two countries will continue our special relationship.
“We are working together on almost every issue, supporting Ukraine, managing competition with China, advancing cooperation in the Indo-Pacific with Aukus.”
Keir responded: “The special relationship is obviously the basis, always has been, for our defense, for our security and prosperity, which is obviously fundamental to our government missions.”
A readout of Downing Street shows the pair also discussed their commitment to protecting the Good Friday Agreement – a cause close to the US president’s heart – but this was not included in the edited video clip of the conversation.
Also on Friday, David Lammy, the Minister for Foreign Affairs, discussed supporting Ukraine and achieving a ceasefire in Gaza with his US counterpart. Antony Blink.
A number of foreign leaders called Sir Keir to congratulate him on his landslide victory.
These included Volodymyr Zelensky, the Ukrainian president, to whom the prime minister promised “unwavering commitment”.
Sir Keir also spoke to Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi and European Union leader Ursula von der Leyen.
He said his message from the UK to the world is: “We are back.”
The new prime minister wants Britain to take a greater role on the global stage, after years of soured relations with Europe over Brexit and the UK’s inward-looking political soap opera opera that followed.
Starmer takes office at a time of multiple crises – including war in Ukraine and the Middle East, an emerging far right and a China that is flexing its muscles.
Malcolm Chalmers, deputy director general of the Royal United Services Institute, said that with France facing a rise in the far right in parliamentary elections and the US embroiled in a polarizing and high-stakes presidential election, Britain “has the most stable of all major Western democracies.”
“It therefore has the opportunity and responsibility to help steady the ship of Western unity at a time of exceptional political fluidity,” he said.
Sir Keir has said there will be no change in Britain’s staunch support for Ukraine and has pledged to increase UK military spending to 2.5% of GDP – although he has not set a date for this.
It turns out that Sir Keir Starmer told the nation to “judge me by my actions and not my words” as he ushered in Labour’s red dawn.
The newly appointed Prime Minister hailed the “moment in history” as he brought together his top team for the first Labor Party Cabinet meeting in a generation.
Speaking at a press conference, he said our prisons and NHS are “broken” and promised to put the government on a war footing to fix public services.
And adopting a new relaxed style, he told civil servants they could “call me Keir” instead of Prime Minister.
He also hit back at claims he won a landslide victory because 80% of Britons didn’t vote Labor – promising not to “turn his back” on anyone.
Speaking in No10’s wood-paneled state dining room, Sir Keir said: “I have reminded the entire Cabinet that we will be judged by actions, not words.
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