Esther Webber

1 week ago | politico.eu | Esther Webber |Annabelle Dickson

LONDON — Keir Starmer leads a Labour Party that appears too big to fail. But nine months after it stormed to victory with an overwhelming majority, dividing lines in his army are beginning to emerge. First apparent was a clash between upstart new MPs and longer-serving stalwarts, both of whom thought they were entitled to a bigger stake in Starmer’s government.

1 week ago | politico.eu | Esther Webber |Csongor Körömi |Chris Lunday

Peace in Ukraine is “out of reach in the immediate future,” German Defense Minister Boris Pistorius warned Friday as allies pledged a record €21 billion in new military aid to Kyiv. Pistorius said that “Russia needs to understand that Ukraine is able to go on fighting, and we will support it,” after a meeting of the Ukraine Defense Contact Group — a format that organizes military aid for Kyiv.

4 weeks ago | politico.eu | Esther Webber |Dan Bloom

LONDON — Rachel Reeves’ power in the British government rivals even that of her boss. So how long can it last? Reeves, the U.K.’s top finance minister, has been at the center of Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s project to remake the Labour Party and win back power at last year’s general election. The pair have moved in lockstep to convince voters that Labour can be trusted with the economy — and to hammer home the message that they must take “tough decisions” to restore fiscal credibility.

4 weeks ago | politico.eu | Annabelle Dickson |Esther Webber

LONDON — Rachel Reeves was already facing a hard sell on welfare reform. Her job just got a whole lot more difficult. Britain’s top finance minister was on Wednesday forced to set out social security cuts which will go further, and ultimately save less, than billed just a week ago, after the U.K.’s independent spending watchdog cast a skeptical eye over the government’s initial plans.

1 month ago | politico.eu | Tim Ross |Esther Webber |Jacopo Barigazzi |Nicholas Vinocur

LONDON — Sometimes it’s better not to know what your so-called friends say behind your back. Case in point: When your closest ally calls you “pathetic,” accuses you of “free-loading” and says you should be made to pay for something you never knew they were going to do. British and European officials and diplomats reacted with a mix of hurt and anger to the leak of private messages between top figures in Donald Trump’s U.S. government about plans for air strikes against Houthi rebels in Yemen.