The Readout

Allegra Stratton: The UK-Canada Middle Power Play

The UK and Canada are increasingly aligned, but is Canada leading the way on defence spending?

Mark Carney, Canada's prime minister, left, and Keir Starmer, UK prime minster, during a meeting at Downing Street in London, UK, on Monday, March 16, 2026. Carney and Starmer discussed the Middle East Conflict and Lebanon crisis in a call ahead of their meeting.Photographer: Chris J. Ratcliffe/Bloomberg

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By Allegra Stratton

March 18, 2026 at 5:26 PM UTC

This article is for subscribers only.

With both Donald Trump and Angela Rayner on his case, the prime minister is under a lot of fire — the philippics from the US president are getting increasingly irate and overnight, there was a fresh assault from Rayner. The very generous defence of our PM from Irish Taoiseach Michael Martin in the Oval Office yesterday must have felt like refreshing sweet rain falling in the harsh desert that is political life. Pretty classy from Martin, it’s worth a read.

In many ways the comments from Rayner are more damaging. Though the president’s words are vitriolic, we all know he is capable of returning to the fold quickly and there is some public benefit in being attacked by someone as unpopular in this country as Trump. Even Tory leader Kemi Badenoch has had to take Starmer’s side on this, calling Trump’s insults “childish.”