The Transatlantic Tea 37
How the US is covering the Government implosion/Everything is fine/Wes is PM - depending on what time you read this
I’m typing this during what I think is the King’s Speech ceasefire in the hope that it is relevant when it lands in your inbox. Obviously the UK has been leading with the twists and turns of Starmer’s future since Thursday, but what does the US press make of it?
The Future of Starmer’s Government
NYT were interested enough on Monday to give Starmer his own push alert under the heading ‘Pressure on British PM. Dozens of Labour party lawmakers called on PM Starmer to resign, raising the chances of a leadership battle.’ They also run a helpful guide to his options: resign, say you will resign later, don’t resign, do something different
CNN focuses on potential replacements with a deep dive on Streeting, Rayner and Burnham.
NBC has some fun under the headlines Oust me if you can: Britain’s Starmer challenges mutinous party starting the article with LONDON — Take your best shot. That was British Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s defiant message Tuesday to a growing rebellion within his Labour Party. They said he’d been ‘crippled’ by unforced errors.
Breitbart has a memorable opener about how King’s Speech day is going - Days of plotting against Britain’s lame-duck Prime Minister took a pause for a key part of Britain’s living constitution to be played out. Always loving a royal angle to a story, they report on the risks to the King and the apparent questions from Buckingham Palace about the timing of the speech.
A classic WSJ take from them, reporting on the impact of all the uncertainty on the markets and that UK borrowings costs are at the highest levels since 2008. The piece adds that “most investors and analysts are now betting that he won’t last out the year.”
The headline on the Washington Examiner is that Starmer is being dragged towards the exit, describing the issue as Starmer’s “weakness takes root in the United Kingdom’s malaise of high rates of illegal immigration, weak economic growth, out-of-control spending, and high taxes.” They also say Streeting would be the best US partner out of the reported shortlist.
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