Keir Starmer has condemned Donald Trump’s claim that Nato allies did no properly fight alongside the US in Afghanistion.In a pooled clip that has just been broadcast, he sounded genuinely angry.Starmer said:Let me start by paying tribute to 457 of our armed services who lost their lives in Afghanistan.I will never forget their courage, their bravery and the sacrifice that they made for their country.There are many also who were injured, some with life-changing injuries.

And so I consider President Trump’s remarks to be insulting and, frankly, appalling.And I’m not surprised they caused such hurt to the loved ones of those who were killed or injured, and in fact across the country.Keir Starmer has condemned Donald Trump’s claim that Nato allies did no properly fight alongside the US in Afghanistion, calling it “insulting and, frankly, appalling”.It is the harshest rebuke he has ever delivered in public to the US president, with whom he has invested considerable time and effort over the past year establishing good relations.In the past Starmer generally declined to criticise Trump in public over things Trump has said or done that have offended British political opinion.

But the backlash against Trump’s comment has been unprecedented.Even Prince Harry has issued a statement dismissing his comments as factually wrong and disrespectful.While Trump said that non-US Nato troops stayed away the front line in Afghanistan (see 8.56am), Denmark, the UK and Estonia had death rates that, as proportion of overall population, were similar to America’s.Here are the figures from the BBC.

Angela Rayner, the former deputy PM, is reportedly due to join those Labour figures saying the party should not block Andy Burnham standing to be a candidate in the Gorton and Denton byelection, where the Labour MP Andrew Gwynne resigned today.(See 5.18pm.) Burnham will have to decide whether or not to stand by tomorrow afternoon.For a full list of all the stories covered on the blog today, do scroll through the list of key event headlines near the top of the blog.

Prince Harry, who served in Afghanistan as a helicopter co-pilot gunner, has issued a statement implicitly criticising Donald Trump for his Afghanistan comment.Harry says the sacrifices made by British military personnel who died in the conflict should be “spoken about truthfully and with respect”.In 2001, Nato invoked article 5 for the first - and only - time in history.It meant that every allied nation was obliged to stand with the United States in Afghanistan, in pursuit of our shared security.Allies answered that call.

I served there.I made lifelong friends there.And I lost friends there.The United Kingdom alone had 457 service personnel killed.Thousands of lives were changed forever.

Mothers and fathers buried sons and daughters,Children were left without a parent,Families are left carrying the cost,Those sacrifices deserve to be spoken about truthfully and with respect, as we all remain united and loyal to the defence of diplomacy and peace,(Trump’s comments were neither truthful nor respectful.

)Donald Trump is being criticised in other Nato countries for his comments about the contribution made by non-Americans in Afghanistan.As the BBC reports, Wladyslaw Kosiniak-Kamysz, the Polish defence minister, said:Poland has always been, is, and will be a responsible and reliable ally that, at the moment when security is threatened, stands in its defence.The Polish Army, arm in arm with its allies, took part, among others, in missions in Afghanistan and Iraq.It is present today in missions and operations conducted by Nato.Tragic moments, when our soldiers died, showed that in defence of international security, of Poland’s security, we are ready to pay the highest price.

This sacrifice will never be forgotten and must not be diminished.Poland is a reliable and proven ally, and nothing will change that.James Stavridis, a retired US admiral and former Nato supreme allied commander for Europe, said:Ambassador Nick Burns has it exactly right.Hundreds of @NATO troops died under my command on the front lines in Afghanistan 2009-2013.I honor their memory every single day.

Stavridis was commening on a tweet from a former US ambassdor who called Trump’s comment “shameful”,The BBC has more comments from Nato figures on its live blog,The Green party MP Ellie Chowns has joined those calling Donald Trump’s comment about the record of Nato allies in Afghanistan “an insult”,She says:Disgusting remarks from Donald Trump - an insult to the memories of the more than 400 British soldiers who lost their lives in Afghanistan and to their families,Absolutely vile to belittle and deny that sacrifice.

Ben Walker, a political data expert at the New Statesman, has written a useful article looking at polling and what it might mean for the Gorton and Denton byelection.The New Statesman has its own Britain Predicts election forecasting model that has performed well in the past.Although Labour won the seat very easily in 2026, Walker says current figures suggest Reform UK should win – even allowing for tactical voting.Normally it would be impossible to get data on what impact having a particular candidate would have.But there is a lot of polling about Andy Burnham’s approval ratings, and Walker has adjusted the figures to take account of how popular Burnham is with the supporters of other parties.

These suggest that, with Burnham as a candidate, Labour could draw even with Reform UK, or even win with tactical voting.Walker concludes:Brand Burnham could save Labour in this Greater Manchester by-election.There’s no better place for it than his own backyard.(It’s better than Norwich, at least.) But the constituency is home to its fair share of voters who are prone to more marginal candidates.

The seat is diverse and more deprived than the average.A history of voting Labour counts for little these days.The large Green vote here is not borne from nothing.If Labour wants to see off Reform, it needs to inspire the left without inciting the right.But this assumes Burnham will be a candidate.

He has not, as yet, said that he will try to stand, and even if he does want to stand, as Jessica Elgot explains, it is hard to see him getting on the ballot.The Labour MP Andrew Gwynne has formally resigned from parliament.That means the Gorton and Denton byelection is definitely on.Here is our latest story about the contest, written before the resignation was confirmed.In normal countries, MPs simply resign but, Britain being a place that likes its tradition, it does not work quite like that here.

The announcement has come from the Treasury, which says: “The Chancellor of the Exchequer has this day appointed Andrew John Gwynne to be Steward and Bailiff of the Manor of Northstead.” In the old days being steward of the Manor of Northstead was an office of profit under the crown, which meant holding the post was incompatible with being an MP.The job has long since gone, but applying for it (or steward of the Chiltern Hundreds) remains the mechanism by which MPs resign.Here is the Starmer clip.Sir Keir Starmer has said Donald Trump's claim that British troops did not serve on the frontline in Afghanistan was "insulting and frankly appalling".

He suggested that the US president should apologise.Latest ➡️ https://t.co/fu9XJYD8Rd📺 Sky 501, Virgin 602 and YouTube pic.twitter.com/TAls70GjnHHe got there in the end.

Other prime ministers with a great capacity for risk, or more confidence in their ability to channel public opinion, would have been out in front of the cameras much more quickly to deliver a whacking to Donald Trump.Even Nigel Farage got his (rather feeble) criticism out by mid afternoon.But when they came, Keir Starmer’s words were powerful and impressive – far stronger than anything he has ever said about Donald Trump before, and probably one of the best TV clips he has ever delivered.Starmer has an uncle who served in the Falklands war, on a ship that was sunk.He has spent most of his life with lawyers, not soldiers, but his outrage at Trump’s (seemingly intentional) insult to British servicemen and women who fought in Afghanistan came over as thoroughly authentic.

Part of the job of being PM is to speak out on important matters on behalf of the nation,This afternoon at least, Starmer earned his money,This does not mean that Starmer is going to go the full Mark Carney, or Emmanuel Macron,His final answer in the TV clip made that clear,(See 4.

36pm.) Even this week, Starmer has been committed to preserving the Atlantic alliance, not writing its obituary or establishing its replacement.But after today he may realise that there is more to be gained by pushing back against the White House monster than he perhaps realised.Saying what you actually think; it can be a liberation.In his pooled interview, Keir Starmer was also “getting a bit exasperated” by some of the comments Donald Trump has been making.

The interviewer, Jon Craig from Sky News, pointed out that Starmer has had to distance himself from or criticise several things Trump has been saying recently.Starmer replied:We have a very close relationship with the US.And that is important for our security, for our defence, and our intelligence.And it is very important we maintain that relationship.But is it because of that relationship that we fought alongside the Americans, for our values, in Afghanistan.

And it was in that context that people lost their lives or suffered terrible injuries, fighting for freedom, fighting with our allies, for what we believe in,In his pooled interview Keir Starmer was then told about the mother of a serviceman who suffered dreadful injuries in Afghanistan who wanted Starmer to be tougher with Donald Trump, and to demand an apology,Asked if he would demand an apology, Starmer replied:Well, I’ve made my position clear,What I would say to [the mother] is, if I had misspoken in that way, or said those words, I would certainly apologise, and I would apologise to her,Keir Starmer has condemned Donald Trump’s claim that Nato allies did no properly fight alongside the US in Afghanistion.

In a pooled clip that has just been broadcast, he sounded genuinely angry.Starmer said:Let me start by paying tribute to 457 of our armed services who lost their lives in Afghanistan.I will never forget their courage, their bravery and the sacrifice that they made for their country.There are many also who were injured, some with life-changing injuries.And so I consider President Trump’s remarks to be insulting and, frankly, appalling.

And I’m not surprised they caused such hurt to the loved ones of those who were killed or injured, and in fact across the country.Connor Naismith, the Labour MP who represents Crewe and Nantwich in the north-west of England, says he does not want his party to prevent Andy Burnham from applying to be its candidate in the Gorton and Denton byelection.Gorton and Denton deserves the best possible choice of candidates.I agree with the Prime Minister that our attention should be on delivering for the public, not speculating about future leadership contests.Any decision made to limit the choice would be wrong.

But he also does not want more leadership speculation (which would be the inevitable consequences of Burnham being a candidate), so there is some mixed messaging going on here.Kemi Badenoch, the Conservative leader, and Ed Davey, the Lib Dem leader, have both recorded TV clips criticising Donald Trump’s comment about the record of Nato allies in Afghanistan.In hers, Badenoch said Trump was talking “absolute nonsense”.Doug Beattie wants to see Keir Starmer on camera saying this too.(See 3