Following rising fears over what seemed like an increasingly likely US incursion into Greenland, Donald Trump announced he had agreed a deal for “the entire Arctic Region” with NATO Secretary-General Mark Rutte at the World Economic Forum. © Associated Press / Alamy Stock Photo
President Trump took his spat with European nations over the future of Greenland (metaphorically) nuclear when he announced the imposition of tariffs against those, including the UK, who had contributed to a small troop deployment to the Arctic island. European leaders were sent into a frenzy, although a surprisingly forceful response emerged; Starmer labelled it “completely wrong”, while Macron declared that "no intimidation nor threat will influence us.” Amidst a flurry of European diplomacy, including a visit by the Danish PM to Chequers, Trump upped the ante on the UK specifically by publicly criticising the deal to hand the Chagos Islands to Mauritius (the USA’s support is one of the Government’s key justifications for the whole deal). Starmer again refused to back down, using PMQs to declare Trump had done this with the intention of “putting pressure on me and Britain in relation to my values and principles on the future of Greenland.” Not content to be a Truth Social warrior alone, Trump then took the fight to Europe with a fiery (yet rambling) speech at Davos in which he criticised European nations for their intransigence on the Greenland issue, argued they were taking advantage of the USA, questioned whether they would ever come to the defence of the US…and told the (majority German speaking) Swiss audience that were it not for the US “you'd all be speaking German and a little Japanese, perhaps.” However, he also pledged not to use force to seize Greenland, and then hours later announced that a deal had been struck with NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte and the threat of tariffs rescinded – leaving European heads spinning. There has been little clarity on the deal, although it’s been suggested Denmark may cede sovereignty of the American base there. That’s not to say all has been forgiven – Trump, again questioning European support for the US, later said they had “stayed…off the front lines" of the conflict in Afghanistan (in which 457 British soldiers died), triggering a bout of cross-party condemnation in the UK, with Starmer labelling the comments “insulting” and “appalling.” The incident leaves the US-European relationship, the efficacy of NATO as a reliable defence alliance, and Starmer’s status as Trump-whisperer extraordinaire deeply damaged.
2L – the new liquid limit at Heathrow, ending the reign of the 100ml rule and the ritual humiliation of squeezing toiletries into a clear plastic bag.
29 – English councils now permitted to postpone elections to help deliver local government reorganisation.
3.4% – the UK inflation rate for December 2025, up from 3.2% from November.
43 – current police forces in England and Wales, a number due to be substantially cut under a series of policing reforms set to be announced next week.
0 – the number of defections from Labour to Reform UK this week, after the promised defection of a high profile figure was apparently postponed.
£271,000 – average house property value in the UK, following an annual price rise of 2.5%.
17 – occasions on which Nigel Farage failed to declare payments on time, totalling over £380,000, and forcing him to apologise to Parliament’s standards watchdog.
We could be seeing the return of the ‘King of the North’ after Andrew Gwynne stood down as the MP for Gorton and Denton on health grounds, leaving Labour (and all other parties) needing to find a candidate for a by-election. It has long been rumoured that Mayor of Greater Manchester Andy Burnham was looking for a route to return as an MP and then challenge for the Labour leadership (and Prime Minister), though he has neither confirmed nor denied he plans to seek the nomination. If he decides he does, he could be blocked by Labour’s NEC…
There are some elections the Government won’t have to worry about, as it was confirmed 29 councils in England had their request to postpone elections in May approved, due to local government reorganisation. Once reorganisation is agreed, the 29 areas will vote for new councils in May 2027 and they will be operational from April 2028.
Shadow Foreign Minister Andrew Rosindell became the latest MP to defect to Reform, saying the Conservatives were "irreparably bound to the mistakes of previous governments.” Unlike Robert Jenrick he managed to get out of the door in time and was not subjected to a humiliating dismissal. He takes Reform’s MP count to seven, just shy of the SNP’s nine.
Social media for under-16s could be banned, with a consultation launched on a range of proposals related to the use of smartphones and technology. With the Government watching Australia closely to see the impact of the policy they introduced in December 2025 and over 60 Labour MPs writing a letter to the PM to call for a ban, this is only heading in one direction. The House of Lords, not content with the consultation, also voted on Wednesday to amend the Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill to include a ban on social media for under-16s, though it’s likely the Government will seek to remove this from the Bill.
China will have a brand new mega-embassy in London as its plans to develop a site at Royal Mint Court near the Tower of London were finally given approval this week, despite national security concerns and serious opposition from opposition parties. Housing Secretary Steve Reed announced the news, and said “the decision is now final unless it is successfully challenged in court."
The Warm Homes Plan was published this week, with £15bn of investment to help households with energy efficiency upgrades and bring down the costs of their bills ‘for good’. Low-income households will be offered suitable upgrades for free, others will be offered Government-backed zero and low-interest loans for upgrades, and landlords will be required to upgrade their properties to meet EPC Band C across two metrics by October 2030. It was published alongside a Fuel Poverty Strategy which aims to take 1 million more households out of poverty by 2030 and ensure that low-income households are protected from high energy prices.
Wide-ranging reform to the water sector was also unveiled, as the Water White Paper was published with a number of measures to ‘overhaul the water system and protect households from disruption’. There will be a focus on pre-pipe solutions that tackle the root causes of pollution, water company infrastructure will have an ‘MOT’ to check on its condition, and there will be a Chief Engineer sitting within the new water regulator.
While Trump took centre stage at Davos, and Starmer decided not to go, it was left to Chancellor Rachel Reeves to bang the drum for investment into the UK, with the investment firm M&G announcing a £1bn UK Social Investment Fund to support areas throughout the UK. The biopharmaceutical company UCB also confirmed a £500m investment in UK R&D and manufacturing, with a new research hub in Surrey.
Cultural locations such as museums, libraries and arts venues will benefit from a £1.5bn fund set up to restore pride in every part of Britain and support opportunities for people to experience the arts and culture the UK has to offer. It is expected the funding will support over 1,000 venues with issues such as maintenance works and bills.
The Government won’t be moving forward with audit reform, after it confirmed in a letter to the Business and Trade Committee that, due to a ‘great deal of progress’ having been made since 2018 and with Parliamentary time limited, it had decided against pursuing legislation that had been announced in the King’s Speech.
Public services will be modernised and improved as part of CustomerFirst, a new unit within the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology. The unit will test innovative ways to tackle delays, look to build services that make use of AI and modern solutions, and deliver savings for taxpayers through end to end reform and smarter use of technology by departments.
The Indonesian Prime Minister came to Downing Street this week to mark a new Strategic Partnership that had been formally agreed between the two nations. The agreement covers areas such as economic growth, climate, energy and nature, defence and security, and people and society, with it committing to ‘transform’ bilateral relations through to 2045.
There was a last-minute change in plenary for the Commons on Monday, as the Government decided to pull the third reading of the Hillsborough Law and instead announced its intention to delay the Bill’s progress while disagreements are thrashed out with Labour backbenchers and campaigners over the inclusion of the secret services. On Wednesday, Northern Ireland Secretary Hilary Benn announced the removal of provisions of conditional immunity from prosecutions for Troubles-era crimes from the Northern Ireland Troubles Act 2023, an Act which the Government is also currently in the process of repealing entirely. Wednesday also saw a Ministerial Statement on the Water White Paper by Environment Secretary Emma Reynolds MP, at which no Conservative backbencher appeared to ask a follow up question.
In the upper chamber, the Lords approved the final Commons amendments to the Sentencing Bill, meaning it has now been given Royal Assent. The final amendment surrounded transparency in the courts, with Government accepting it will expand the provision of Crown Court sentencing transcripts, free of charge, to all victims who request them. The Biodiversity Beyond National Jurisdiction Bill passed its third reading, and will return to the Commons with amendments, whilst the Crime and Policing Bill, Pensions Schemes Bill and English Devolution Bill all continued their committee stages. At of time of writing, Peers are on their seventh day debating the Assisted Dying Bill, with the discussion beginning at Amendment 35 (of 942 on the amendment paper).
33% of Britons believe Europe should attempt to persuade the US to relinquish its claim to Greenland through diplomatic means, while 30% think Europe should respond with economic retaliation if the US were to seize Greenland, according to a new YouGov poll. Labour and Lib Dem voters are more likely to favour economic retaliation, whereas Conservative and Reform voters tend to prefer a diplomatic-only approach.
How are Britain’s political leaders faring in the polls this week? According to the latest Ipsos survey, voters are relatively split when asked to choose between Labour under Keir Starmer and Reform UK led by Nigel Farage. Labour is trusted more on the NHS, climate change and education, while Reform UK scores higher on managing immigration and strengthening the UK’s defence and armed forces. When comparing party leaders directly, Starmer and Farage are level on 32% and 31% respectively, with Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch trailing on 25% (compared to Starmer at 26%). Manchester Mayor Andy Burnham was the only politician tested who was preferred to Keir Starmer as Prime Minister, by a margin of seven points. Interestingly, there just so happens to be a job opening in Gorton and Denton….
While the public may not prefer Kemi Badenoch as Prime Minister, they do strongly support her decision to sack self-appointed Sheriff, Robert Jenrick, following rumours that he was planning to – and subsequently did – defect to Reform. According to an Opinium poll, six in ten say the decision was right, compared with just 11% who believe she was wrong. Support for the move is particularly high among Conservatives (79%) and, perhaps surprisingly, Reform voters (61%). This also saw her approval rating reach a net score of -8 (25% approve, 34% disapprove).
The Commons got a bit raucous this week on several occasions, firstly with Andrew Rosindell receiving a loud round of boos as he made his first contribution in Parliament as a Reform UK MP during FCDO Questions; then the next day with Shadow Transport Secretary Richard Holden getting kicked out of the chamber for his heckling during PMQs. And then to top it all off, Shadow Leader of the House Jesse Norman referenced everyone’s favourite topic of gossip this week in the Business Statement…Brooklyn Beckham’s Instagram stories (singlehandedly countering Blue Monday some might say), followed swiftly by a dig at Nigel Farage for “hoovering up the free food and glugging down the champagne with the global bullsh*terati in Davos” – language which the Speaker was not a fan of…
With the Government this week committing to consult on banning social media for under-16s, perhaps there’s a case to be made for extending the remit, after Desmond Swayne was discovered reposting pictures of shirtless men on his X account. He later claimed he was hacked, calling the reposts ‘very bizarre.’
Also on X, Rupert Lowe showed he is capable of tweeting something that isn’t a page-long essay, as he shared his letter to Norfolk County Council’s Conservative leader who he claimed has ‘disgracefully colluded with Labour to steal the vote away from my constituents.’ Keeping it short and sweet, he wrote: ‘Kay, You are a coward.’
And finally, it would be remiss not to include a little something on Trump’s chaotic appearance at the World Economic Forum in Davos. And the pick of choice is…him mixing up Iceland and Greenland (that territory which he insists is utterly integral to US national security)…four times. The White House Press Secretary rode to her boss’s rescue, insisting that he just meant that Greenland is a “piece of ice”…
