Allegra Stratton: Will Trump’s Tirades Help, Not Hurt, Starmer?

As the Readout hits your inbox, we find ourselves sandwiched between two press conferences. Keir Starmer addressed the UK this morning and tonight it will be Donald Trump’s turn. Trump has been warming up already today by talking about pulling out of NATO and revealing the Iranians are now asking for a ceasefire. The latter bodes well for the speech tonight being about how this conflict ends, though already this afternoon the president said he will only consider a ceasefire when the Strait is reopened.

With the US President due up later, our own Prime Minister sought to frame things. This was his last moment to address the British public before the great Easter stampede for the motorway. He and his team will know that this means a lot of people leaning on their cars in petrol station forecourts watching the cost tot up and chuntering. Today Starmer’s message was that fuel duty would be frozen until September - nicely petrol pump punter friendly. But slightly more loftily, he said the UK would convene some 35 nations to get the Strait of Hormuz open.