Politics latest: 'Elephant in the room' at Starmer's first NATO summit - as allies stress support for Ukraine (2024)

Sir Keir Starmer, the prime minister, has taken a step away from the NATO summit to catch up on the football.

He has shared a video of himself and his Dutch counterpart Dick Schoof watching the Harry Kane penalty.

As Sir Keir says in the tweet, he "picked the right moment" to watch.

Follow live updates on the England vs Netherlands game below...

As the new prime minister makes his international debut at the NATOsummit in Washington – what does he need to do to make a quick impact with international colleagues?

On today's Daily, Niall Paterson is joined by political correspondent Tamara Cohen to discuss how Sir Keiris tackling his first overseas visit.

Plus,Lord Peter Ricketts, former diplomatand French ambassador,joins Niall to lookat Labour's wider foreign policy plans.

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We've heard a little more from Downing Street about the prime minister's plan to give Joe Biden a little gift later.

The pair have already met at the NATO summit in Washington, but will hold more formal talks at the White House later.

We reported earlier that Sir Keir Starmer would be gifting the US president his own personalised Arsenal shirt - the Premier League team the prime minister supports.

We now know it'll be adorned with Mr Biden's surname and 46 - a reference to his presidential number.

The Labour leader is an Arsenal season ticket holder, and he hopes the present will help strengthen what he called the "very special relationship" between the UK and US.

A senior Downing Street official said: "It's his team and he thought it would make a personal gift."

The PM will also give the US leader a copy of the Atlantic Charter which paved the way for the formation of NATO, complete with then Labour leader Clement Attlee's amendments.

Hopefully we get pictures later - especially of the shirt...

The NATO summit in Washington has been our focus this evening.

Sir Keir Starmer is there as part of his first foreign trip as prime minister.

Here are some of the key moments still to come today for the PM:

• Watching through to the bitter end as England take on the Netherlands at the Euros with Dutch PM Dick Schoof;
  
• Meeting US House Speaker Mike Johnson;
• Holding talks with Joe Biden in the Oval Office;
• And enjoying a NATO leaders dinner at the White House, which his wife Victoria is also expected to attend.

We reported earlier on former Labour MP Jonathan Ashworth calling for his replacement - independent Shockat Adam - to explain his "dealings" with a man known as Majid Novsarka, or Majid Freeman.

Novsarka is facing allegations of encouragement of terrorism and supporting a proscribed organisation.

We've now heard back from Mr Adam.

A spokesperson said: "Shockat was elected by a diverse coalition of voters in Leicester South.

"He is focused on delivering for his constituents, and will not be distracted by sour grapes from a beaten rival whose divisive politics were resoundingly rejected at the ballot box."

Novsarka was a staunch advocate of Mr Adam, and Mr Adam at one pointtweeted a video of Novsarka questioning Mr Ashworth on the campaign trail over his position on the war in Gaza, writing: "Politics is all about answering difficult questions - if you can't stand the heat..."

There is no suggestion of a direct relationship between Mr Adam and Novsarka.

You can read the full article here:

While we've had much of our attention taken up by the NATO summit, earlier today parliament finished swearing in all 650 MPs.

As is tradition after a new election, all the new members elected have gathered for a picture in the House of Commons.

This year is an especially large cohort, with 335 - more than half the Commons - being newly elected.

Among the new entries are Reform leader Nigel Farage, and Liberal Democrat Steve Darling with his guide dog Jennie.

See if you can spot them below:

Lisa Nandy, the new culture secretary, has quite the buddy to watch tonight's England match with.

The Three Lions are looking to book their place in the final of the Euros, and are up against the Netherlands.

Ms Nandy appears to be cheering them on alongside Ed Sheeran.

She looks very excited.

Her boss, Prime Minister Keir Starmer, is said to be watching it alongside his Dutch counterpart at the NATO summit in Washington.

If you're not watching the game, or just want some extra analysis and observations while you do, why not check out our dedicated live blog below:

The show will be back tomorrow from 7pm.

In the meantime, stick with us here for the latest updates and analysis from the NATO summit in Washington - and any other political news that catches our eye from closer to home.

The latest NATO summit in Washington is well under way, and one of the most striking elements is Sir Keir Starmer's debut on the world stage.

He's met with world leaders including Joe Biden, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, and Olaf Scholz - the first of whom welcomed him to the stage before alliance leaders posed for their traditional group photo.

You can watch that moment below: