Starmer wants ‘closer US ties’ and Wallace ‘Boiling Point’
Several papers feature Sir Keir Starmer’s comments on UK-US relations following Donald Trump’s return to the presidency. A front-page report in The Times said Britain would invest “deeper than ever” in its ties to Washington. The newspaper said Starmer also warned Russia posed an “imminent danger” to Western allies in his foreign policy speech on Monday.
The Daily Telegraph began with the same speech, but focused on Starmer’s pledge not to support Trump on the EU. The newspaper said the prime minister told the audience it was “completely wrong” to suggest that his presence in the White House meant the UK had to be closer to the US than to Europe.
The British Financial Times reported that the new head of NATO warned Trump that the United States would face “terrible threats from China, Iran and North Korea” if he urged Ukraine to sign a peace agreement beneficial to Russia. Mark Rutte said he had “lobbyed the president-elect to support NATO” and continued to support Kyiv.
Host Greg Wallace has apologized in a social media video for describing women who accused him of making inappropriate sexual comments in the workplace as “middle-class women of a certain age”, the Daily Mirror reports. The newspaper reported that one of the BBC presenters, Kirstie Allsopp, accused the MasterChef host of “going back on his word.”
The Sun, under the headline “Boiling Point”, was the first to report that BBC bosses “blatantly aired an episode of MasterChef starring Wallace” on Monday and refused to take down the Christmas episode. The newspaper said MPs wanted the show taken off TV and reported that “senior politicians” described the broadcaster as needing “massive cultural change”.
Back in British politics, the Daily Mail said the government has been “ridiculously ridiculed for its deluge of empty talk” since former Conservative minister Jacob Rees-Mogg won the election. The newspaper reported that Whitehall had set up “at least 67 reviews, consultations and working groups” during Labour’s first 150 days in power.
Experts have warned Starmer that the government’s plans to achieve net zero carbon emissions by 2030 will mean higher energy bills, i reported. But the newspaper said it was understood the Prime Minister was “expected to stick to his pledge to save consumers up to £300 on their energy bills” in a speech this week.
Britain’s cybersecurity chief will warn on Tuesday that the country is underestimating the cyber threats it faces from hostile nations and criminal gangs, The Guardian reports. The newspaper said Richard Horne, the new chairman of Britain’s Government Communications Headquarters, will accuse Russia of “aggression and recklessness” while warning China of “highly sophisticated” digital attacks.
According to a Metro headline, victims of stalking will be given more protections, such as “the right to know who their harasser is if they are targeted online”. The newspaper said victims are currently not identifying their alleged stalker before the case goes to court, leaving them “uncertain whether it is someone they know”.
