Defence Top Trumps: US President Donald Trump sits centre stage as Keir Starmer listens in to Mark Rutte at the NATO Summit in The Hague © Associated Press / Alamy Stock Photo
Good things come in threes seemed to be the Government’s motto this week… The public affairs sector can now take a collective sigh of relief having reached Friday, following the Government’s publication of the Industrial Strategy, National Security Strategy and Trade Strategy all in one week. The long-awaited Industrial Strategy was first to have its moment in the spotlight on Monday, with the 160 page document (and 5 accompanying sector plans on advanced manufacturing; creative industries; clean energy industries; digital technologies and professional and business services) setting out a ‘new approach for a new era’, which the Government has claimed is ‘robust, strategic and unashamedly long-term.’ The strategy itself consists of pledges under 4 key aims: providing long-term stability for business; supporting the UK’s city regions and clusters; supporting frontier industries; and creating an enduring partnership with business. Key announcements from the strategy cover a range of sectors including pledging to lower energy bills for energy intensive industries; funding for R&D; investment in nuclear fusion and quantum technology; and funding for technology adoption in the professional and business services. As part of the Strategy, a further three sector plans are yet to be published, in defence, financial services and life sciences.
Tuesday saw the publication of the second strategy, as the National Security Strategy was published. The strategy identifies the main challenges faced as a nation ‘in an era of radical uncertainty’, and sets out how the Government aims to achieve security at home; strength abroad and increase sovereign and asymmetric capabilities. The report warns that the UK must ‘actively prepare’ for war, advocating a ‘whole systems’ approach to security including a strong supply chain, controls on immigration, economic and energy security and tackling online harm; and includes a commitment to spend 5% of GDP on security by 2035. As part of the Strategy, the Government also confirmed it has completed the China Audit, and, as a result, are investing £600 million in intelligence services. The audit will not be published, as disclosing it could undermine its effectiveness.
And finally the focus was on trade on Thursday, with the publication of the Trade Strategy. Setting out the Government’s plans to ‘maximise trade opportunities now and in the future’, the Strategy includes a series of measures, including a commitment to ‘significantly’ upgrade the UK’s ‘trade defence toolkit’; create an Economic Security Advisory Service to help monitor and respond to turbulence in global sectors; tackle trade-distorting practices such as dumping; and overhaul the trade remedies system ‘at the earliest opportunity’. It also sets out plans to quadruple the capacity of UK Export Finance to £80bn, modernise, simplify and unify export support services; and pilot ‘Digital Trade Corridors’ with European markets to harness the benefits of digitalisation. Anyone else in the Westminster bubble who needs to go lie down in a cold, dark room after this week – we hear you.
5% – NATO allies promised to raise defence related spending to this amount by 2035.
£1.5bn – the amount that will be needed to fill a budget black hole, after Keir Starmer’s U-turn over his flagship welfare reforms.
126 MPs – signed the amendment to the Universal Credit and Personal Independence Payment Bill, which, if it secured a majority, would sink the Bill.
£250,000 – the amount set out in Nigel Farage’s tax policy which would give non-doms the chance to pay a one-off fee to shield them from paying tax.
£500m – the amount that Ministers have pledged to spend on transport and infrastructure improvements ahead of building the Universal theme park in Bedford.
25 days – until parliament breaks up for the Summer recess!
In news that would have made the Driving the Week section, if we hadn’t had a strategy overload this week, the Government u-turned on its welfare reforms, after a major rebellion by backbench Labour MPs threatened to derail the bill at its second reading next week. In a letter to MPs on Thursday night, Work and Pensions Sec Liz Kendall proposed major changes which will see current PIP recipients remain within the existing system, with the new eligibility requirements implemented from November 2026 for new claims only; and ensure that current recipients of the Universal Credit health element have their incomes ‘fully protected in real terms.’ As well as seriously undermining the Government’s authority, the changes threaten to blow a hole in the Chancellor’s fiscal rules and further increase the possibility of tax rises.
NATO members agreed to raise defence spending to 5% by 2035 as they fell in line before ‘daddy’ Donald Trump (see here) at NATO’s summit at The Hague. Crucially, this includes 1.5% on ‘associated infrastructure’ critical for national resilience (we can’t wait to see how far that definition gets stretched). It is doubtful many European nations will reach the 5% pledge by this date, but the target seems to have been as much about mollifying Trump as strengthening the alliance. For the first time since 2022, the post-summit communiqué did not include a condemnation of Russia's invasion of Ukraine, mainly due to the fact all the attention was on…
…Iran and Israel. A tenuous peace appears to have been established following America’s stunning intervention in the conflict, which saw a night of massive air strikes against Iran’s nuclear programme. Following a symbolic Iranian retaliation against an American base in Qatar, Trump declared an end to what he called the ‘12 day war’ and unleashed an expletive-laden tirade against Israel when it briefly recommenced airstrikes. However, it remains unclear to what degree Iran’s nuclear programme has been set back – meaning the whole cycle could start all over again, at any time.
The UK will purchase 12 new F-35A fighter jets and join NATO’s dual capable aircraft nuclear mission, the Prime Minister announced at the NATO summit. The jets will be based at RAF Marham and will reintroduce a nuclear role for the RAF for the first time since the UK retired its sovereign air-launched nuclear weapons following the end of the Cold War.
Palestine Action will be banned under the Terrorism Act next week, after Home Secretary Yvette Cooper heeded calls to act, following a break in at RAF Brize Norton last week. Four members of the organisation have been arrested after members of the group broke into the base and filmed themselves causing, reportedly, up to £25m of damage to an RAF Voyager aircraft. Once proscribed, members of the group could face up to 14 years in prison, and those displaying support for the group up to six months.
The UK will provide 350 ASRAAM air defence missiles to Ukraine, funded using £70m worth of interest generated from seized Russian assets under the Extraordinary Revenue Acceleration scheme. ASRAAM missiles can be fired using the RAVEN Ground Based Air Defence System supplied by the UK to Ukraine, with five more RAVEN systems due for imminent delivery, bringing the total to 13.
A rapid national investigation into NHS maternity and neonatal services has been ordered, to look at the worst performing services across the country and bring together the findings from past reviews into a single set of actions. The urgent review comes after harrowing reports of major failings at a number of hospitals across the country where babies have died or suffered serious harm whilst under maternity ward care. Launching the review, Health Secretary Wes Streeting argued families have been “ignored, gaslit, lied to, manipulated and damaged further by the inability for a trust to simply be honest with them that something has gone wrong”.
The Climate Change Committee called on the Government to make electricity cheaper, in its first assessment of the Labour Government’s progress on reducing emissions. The highly influential report published on Wednesday found that ‘government policies to reduce emissions have improved since last year’, and made a series of recommendations, noting that making electricity cheaper will help people feel the benefits of the transition and increase the uptake of clean electric technologies, such as heat pumps and electric vehicles.
Amazon announced this week it will invest £40bn in the UK over the next three years, building four new fulfilment centres and new delivery stations nationwide, as well as upgrades and expansions to its existing network of over 100 operations buildings across the country. Business Secretary Jonathan Reynolds visited Amazon's HQ in London to mark the announcement, and the PM and Chancellor called it a “massive vote of confidence in the UK” and “powerful endorsement of Britain’s economic strengths”.
Tech Sec Peter Kyle launched a new Global Talent Taskforce, hoping to 'attract the world’s exceptional talent to relocate to the UK'. The announcement is backed by £54m in funding to be allocated to universities and other research organisations in the coming weeks, to cover relocation and research costs over five years. The Taskforce will report to the Prime Minister and the Chancellor to help support researchers, entrepreneurs, investors, top tier managerial and engineering talent and high-calibre creatives, relocate to the UK.
MHCLG announced it will conduct an overhaul of the ‘outdated and complex’ council system, to bring ‘fairer funding, more stability and improve lives of people across the country’. Local Govt Minister Jim McMahon announced he will ‘scrap the existing competitive bidding processes councils often have to go through for small pots of money’; and also ensure allocations are ‘made based on the latest and best available data and recognise the areas where demand for council services is greatest’.
Ed Miliband announced plans to ‘support banks and large companies in developing climate transition plans’, to try and make the UK the ‘sustainable finance capital of the world’. The Energy Secretary made the announcement as part of London Climate Action Week, under plans that will see the Government take forward recommendations from last year’s Transition Finance Market Review to consult on transition plan requirements in order to catalyse the growing transition finance market.
Shadow Business Secretary Andrew Griffith delivered a wide-ranging speech to the Prosperity Institute this week, in what could arguable be read as an early pitch for the (no currently vacant) Tory leadership, or at least to reset the Conservative Party’s agenda. The former COO of Sky and Chair of JustEat, lamented the high energy costs being faced in the UK at present, stated the world is in the “most exciting age for human progress ever”, criticised the last Government for micromanagement in regulating television adverts for “yoghurt or porridge oats”, confirmed the Conservative Party would scrap the “family farm death tax”, dismantle the Employment Rights Bill, close the Fair Work Agency and back business, pledging to draw up a “world-beating offer” for wealth creators.
With recess in sight, MPs paused most legislative work to focus on everyone’s favourite occasion – Estimates Day debates. Only taking place three times a year, Parliamentarians scrutinised a range of Government departments fresh off the Spending Review, including Education, Health and Social Care, the MHCLG, Justice, Defence, and Transport. Only one piece of legislation was considered in the Commons this week, as the Supply and Appropriation (Main Estimates) (No. 2) Bill received its second and third readings to close out the week. MPs also marked Pride Month and Armed Forces Day, and debated issues including the lack of access to GPs and the potential merits of floating solar panels. Reform UK’s Richard Tice also introduced a Bill that would allow members of the public to petition the Criminal Cases Review Commission to review criminal sentences they believe are either too harsh or too lenient.
Peers had a more productive legislative week, considering four Bills. The Children’s Wellbeing and Schools Bill and the Border Security, Asylum and Immigration Bill progressed through Committee Stage, while the Government’s flagship Employment Rights Bill moved a step closer to Royal Assent after completing its Committee Stage – following 11 days of scrutiny. Meanwhile, the Planning and Infrastructure Bill passed its Second Reading.
Ahead of Starmer’s big u-turn on welfare reforms, the IfS released a study examining how the proposed reforms affect incomes, insurance and incentives to work and claim benefits. It notes, ‘official forecasts suggest that these reforms will slow the growth in health-related benefit claimant numbers and spending but both will still be higher in 2029-30 than they are now’; and it cautioned that the long-run legacy of the reforms would be ‘far greater’. It also highlights how the impact of the cuts will be mostly felt by new claimants and by existing claimants when they have their next health reassessment.
The geographic and demographic care gap in England means access to care for older adults is increasingly based on factors other than need, so finds the IfG’s latest report on the provision of adult social care by local authorities. The report warns that this gap could widen without urgent action, arguing that the Government need to better understand the problem, and how and where the care gap is forming in order to ‘act well’.
Following on from World Environment Day earlier this month, Ipsos conducted a new survey which found that 68% of UK adults aged 16-75 are worried about the potential impact on the environment of harmful synthetic chemicals in the products they use. The survey also showed that 7 in 10 UK adults would be likely to stop buying a product they regularly use if they learnt it contains chemicals that have a negative impact on the environment.
It's the 24th June 2025, fireworks stream through the sky and Britain is celebrating its annual Independence Day… or so Dan Hannan predicted in this delightfully optimistic Brexit daydream back in 2016. He paints a sunny picture of effortlessly agreed trade deals, a booming economy, flourishing cities, revived industries, driverless cars (a work in progress!) and a confident nation reclaiming its place on the global stage. Maybe next year…? Either way it’s a read guaranteed to make you smile, if only for the irony.
Snap back to reality, and Reform UK’s showing in local government is off to a memorable start. Over in Warwickshire, their leader has resigned after just 41 days, citing health reasons, leaving his 18-year-old deputy in charge. Yes, 18. Rachel Taylor MP has voiced her concerns and noted that questions over the council’s effectiveness had been mounting, hardly helped by the leader missing the first council meeting for a holiday in the Dominican Republic and telling the local paper that the council didn’t have any specific policies. What could possibly go wrong? It’s only the small matter of being in charge of running a local authority with £1.5bn of assets and a revenue budget of around £500m…
Elsewhere in the Reform universe, this video of a newly elected councillor, giving strong Year 9 school presentation vibes, and struggling to answer questions is sure to inspire confidence!
