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Starmer gets his Trump meeting

Good Friday morning. This is Stefan Boscia.
MISSION ACCOMPLISHED: Keir Starmer lands back in Blighty today after getting a long sought-after meeting with a man he once accused of peddling the “politics of hate and division.” Yes, the PM met with Donald Trump on Thursday night to cap off a U.S. trip that Downing Street will surely count as a roaring success. Starmer managed to deliver his maiden U.N. General Assembly speech, take a public pop at Vladimir Putin and sup with a man who could be elected president again in less than six weeks. He may have even got to ride the famous golden escalator at Trump Tower — what a treat.
Getting to know you stage: Before Thursday’s meeting in NYC, Starmer told the traveling Lobby pack that he wanted to “get to know [Trump] face to face” to “establish a relationship between the two of us” (words via Sky here). It was the second time Starmer had spoken to Trump, after previously getting on the blower to the ex-president after he was shot in June. He is yet to meet Democratic nominee Kamala Harris, despite Downing Street’s best efforts. 
Dinner for three: Starmer and Trump dined together for two hours in Trump Tower and spoke about the U.K.-U.S. relationship, per a government readout — my POLITICO colleague Emilio Casalicchio has the details. He reports that also at the dinner was Foreign Secretary David Lammy, who once called Trump a “neo-Nazi sociopath.” Maybe Lammy’s changed his mind over the past six years …
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Trip down memory lane: Starmer also has a history of scathing comments about the 45th president and Playbook has the receipts. This includes saying that Trump does not understand the words “humanity and dignity” in June 2018; questioning what “planet he is on” in February 2018; and calling his political tactics “divisive and undemocratic” in February 2020. Luckily for Starmer, Trump loves nothing more than the sight of his former detractors kissing the ring.
Nice words: The ex-president was far more complimentary toward Starmer during a pre-dinner press conference at Trump Tower. He praised the British PM after a question from GB News’ Chris Hope, saying “I actually think he’s very nice.” He added: “I think he ran a great race, he did very well. It’s very early, but he’s popular.” Trump must not be following the latest opinion polls!
Stop the steal: Things were then made slightly awkward for Starmer when Trump appeared to suggest Nigel Farage should have won more seats in the U.K. election. He said the Reform UK leader “had a great election, picked up a lot of seats, more seats than he was allowed to have actually.” He then added: “They acknowledged that he won, but for some reason you have a very strange system over there — you might win them, but you don’t get them.” The Mirror’s Lizzy Buchan wrote up his comments.
Old acquaintances: Trump said during Thursday’s presser that he would also meet with Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Friday, after the Ukrainian president met Harris and Joe Biden. It comes after Trump said this week that Zelenskyy should have “given up a little bit” to appease Moscow. Harris hit out at Trump on Thursday, saying his ideas are “proposals for surrender.” POLITICO’s Suzanne Lynch has more.
OVER AT THE U.N.: All this, of course, overshadowed the actual reason Starmer was in the States this week. The PM used his U.N. General Assembly (UNGA) speech to renew Britain’s calls for Israel and Hezbollah to “stop the violence” and “step back from the brink” of war. “Further escalation serves no one, it offers nothing but more suffering for innocent people on all sides,” he said. Sky wrote up this line here.
All eyes on Bibi: Britain has joined the U.S. and other Western allies in calling for a 21-day cease-fire amid fears of serious escalation. But Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu said again last night he would “not stop attacks” on Hezbollah positions, comments which splash the Guardian. Netanyahu will speak today at the U.N. as fears mount in Western capitals that he will launch a ground invasion of southern Lebanon imminently. 
This tiger should roar: Starmer also used his speech to call for an overhaul of the international “institutions of peace” — like the U.N. He said it was imperative the U.N. was not just a “paper tiger” without any power to hold rogue states like Iran accountable. 
He said: “We must put new creativity and energy into conflict resolution and conflict prevention … Make institutions of peace fit for purpose and hold members to their commitments under the U.N. charter.” 
This is new: There were also a couple of policy nuggets within the speech, including a call for a “global shipping levy” with the proceeds “going to tackle climate change and cut emissions.” Starmer also announced a new “facility for British international investment,” which will help mobilize pension and insurance funds into climate projects.
MORE TO IT THAN EU THINK: The prime minister also met with several European leaders at UNGA this week as a part of his ongoing “reset” with the Continent. Fresh reports suggest he is also more willing to go for a youth mobility scheme with the EU than the government has previously let on. 
Getting in the zone: The Times’ Oliver Wright and Kate McCann hear from government officials there is a “landing zone” for a deal to allow Brits under 30 the right to live and work in the EU for several years. Young Europeans would also have reciprocal rights to come to Britain under such an arrangement.
In his natural habitat: David Maddox has heard similar in today’s Indy, writing that Starmer is open to a youth mobility deal but does not want to give too much away in the early stages of his premiership. The PM is expected to travel to Brussels next week to meet with European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen.
A FULL MONTH OF THIS: There is another serving of budget-themed splashes across today’s papers as hacks start to get a stronger whiff of Rachel Reeves’ plans for Oct. 30. The most eye-catching is the Times’ splash, which appears to confirm speculation Reeves wants to change her fiscal rules to allow more government borrowing. 
Windfall: Oliver Wright and Mehreen Khan report the chancellor has asked officials to draw up plans to change how government debt is measured. Day-to-day department spending would still need to be balanced by tax revenues, but the changes could provide Reeves with £50 billion extra to spend on long-term infrastructure projects.
On the flip side: The i splashes on warnings that looser fiscal rules could result in higher inflation and interest rates. Martin Weale, a former member of the Bank of England’s Monetary Policy Committee, told the i’s Callum Mason and Hugo Gye: “I would expect more borrowing to mean higher interest rates, but that said, I doubt that the treatment of the Bank of England losses is very material.”
Finally, some good news for these guys: The FT and Telegraph both have front-page stories that reveal Reeves is considering watering down Labour’s plans to scrap the non-dom tax status. The Guardian reported on Wednesday night that Treasury officials now thought the policy would bring in no extra revenues due to a potential exodus of non-doms from Britain. 
Sounds a lot like a U-turn: One government official told the FT’s George Parker and Emma Agyemang that “we will be pragmatic, not ideological” and that “we won’t press on regardless, but we are not going to abandon this completely.” Meanwhile, one Whitehall official told the Telegraph’s Daniel Martin and colleagues that “there are lots of ways the policy could be worked out and the Treasury will go for the one which raises the most money.”
 
OFF TO BRUM: We are now just a couple of days away from a Tory conference which will be crucial in setting the party’s direction for the rest of this decade. The four remaining leadership candidates will go head-to-head in Birmingham as they try to convince MPs and members that they can win the next election. However, the start of the conference may well be overshadowed by the resignation of a former party chair.
No longer your peer: Life peer Sayeeda Warsi resigned the Conservative whip on Thursday because of “how far right my party has moved and the hypocrisy and double standards in its treatment of different communities,” she posted on X. However, CCHQ did not take long to fire back a shot of its own.
Not backing down: In response to her statement, a party spokesperson said: “Complaints were received regarding divisive language allegedly used by Baroness Sayeeda Warsi. Baroness Warsi was informed an investigation was about to begin earlier this week.” This one may have a bit to play out.
Meanwhile … another former Conservative Party chair is also making waves in the days before the party conference.
GRANT IN AID: Grant Shapps will use the conference to launch a group called … Conservatives Together, Playbook’s Dan Bloom emails in. Co-founded and funded (for now) by Shapps, it has a report due on Tuesday based on conversations with failed candidates such as him about what went wrong in the general election. Rock-hard evidence, if you needed it, that Shapps is the Jon Ashworth of the Tories.
Sparkle-off: “Despite the name, it’s not actually like Labour Together, which was more of a think tank thing,” Shapps tells Dan. “This is about — what do we need to do to win? What would campaigning look like in 2029? How do we support candidates and MPs and you know, how do we move on from deliberately ignoring TikTok and then expecting people to know what we think? How would AI influence campaigning in years to come?”
Ghosts at the feast: Shapps certainly isn’t the only recent ex-MP who is doing the fringe rounds in a bid to shape the future of the party. Incoming Spectator Editor Michael Gove is due to speak at half a dozen events, as are ousted MPs Miriam Cates with her views on the family and Jacob Rees-Mogg with his on the economy. Ex-PM Liz Truss, by contrast, is doing just one event … before jetting off to Brisbane for CPAC Australia.
NO PLATFORM: Monday will host all four “members’ debates,” a novel thing in Tory land that has made a return to the main stage this year. Yet Dan hears that not only do the questions have to be submitted in advance — but members who speak are due to be vetted beforehand, too. The topics are immigration, housebuilding, growth and free speech.
Platform me please: Meanwhile, the “elbowing and maneuvering” between candidates for airtime continues, as one party insider puts it. Kemi Badenoch and Robert Jenrick have managed to bag the prime start-of-conference interviews with the BBC’s Laura Kuenssberg this Sunday. Tom Tugendhat and James Cleverly will get Sky’s Trevor Phillips. They both saw Laura earlier in the month when not many people were listening. 
Bevs with Clev: There will also be plenty of behind-the-scenes schmoozing by all four candidates as they try to win over their colleagues for the final two rounds of MP votes (before the final decision goes to the membership). Sky’s Ali Fortescue hears that this will include a “Bevs with Clev” event on Saturday night for Cleverly’s backers.
SOME ACTUAL POLICY: While the Tory contest has been far more about vibes than policy so far, we have two pre-conference announcements to chew over. Tom Tugendhat is today promising that prisoners will serve their entire sentences if he becomes PM (via the Telegraph’s Charles Hymas). And Robert Jenrick is vowing to cut aid to any country that does not take back refused asylum seekers (via the Guardian’s Kiran Stacey).
WE HAVE A (NEW) POD FOR THAT: In this week’s episode of Westminster Insider, Sascha O’Sullivan looks at how to win a Tory leadership election and 20 years of backroom deals and drama in the 1922 committee of backbenchers. Former 1922 Chair Graham Brady takes her inside Committee Room 14 during the tense leadership elections, while ex-leadership hopeful Andrea Leadsom admits to struggling under the immense pressure in 2016. Listen here.
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HEART TO HEART WITH HARRY: Former Prime Minister Boris Johnson tried to give Prince Harry a “manly pep talk” to persuade him to stay in the U.K. and remain committed to his royal duties, according to the Mail’s sneak peek at his memoir “Unleashed.”
TIMES ARE A-CHANGIN’: The taxpayer-funded company behind HS2 may be brought into public ownership, the FT’s Jim Pickard and Gill Plimmer report. They write that James Stewart, a former KPMG bigwig, has been asked to review the operations of HS2 Ltd.
ON IMMIGRATION: Health Secretary Wes Streeting said the U.K. is “really lucky” to have immigrants working in the NHS and social care system but has become “over-reliant” on them. Speaking on GB News’ Chopper’s Political Podcast, Streeting said there is a culture in the health service “that says we won’t bother to train our own homegrown talent” and that he would instruct health care bosses to find British nurses to work in the NHS. 
MORE DONATIONS STORIES: Streeting hosted a fundraising event for himself and fellow Labour MP Kim Leadbeater at mega-donor Waheed Alli’s London home in January 2020, with attendees including actor Ian McKellen. He declared the value of the event as £4,600, per the Telegraph‘s Fiona Parker and Gordon Rayner. 
On that note: Prime Minister Keir Starmer has rejected criticism of using Alli’s flat for Covid-19-era filming, telling reporters in New York: “The idea that I was trying to pretend it was in my home is pretty farcical.” He added: “I’m not going to be inviting you in to film me in front of my fireplace. I’m very sorry, that’s about the last thing I’d do.”
TOO BORING TO DEEPFAKE: Before the U.K. went to the polls in July, artificial intelligence experts issued dire warnings that Westminster should brace for a deluge of manufactured, misleading online content. But it turns out the election was just too boring to deepfake, reports my POLITICO colleague John Johnston.
A TAP TAX? The Mail’s Harriet Line and Jason Groves reckon ministers are considering proposals to hit properties with hot tubs and pools with higher water tariffs. The extra money raised by the government could be used to help lower water bills for the poorest families, the pair report. 
UP AT THE POST OFFICE INQUIRY: Former Department of Business and Trade Permanent Secretary Martin Donnelly, who ran the department from  2010 to 2016, the period that Tory peer and campaigner James Arbuthnot says is “when the Horizon shortcomings should have been properly addressed.” Stream here. 
REPORTS OUT TODAY: Britain won’t hit climate and housing targets without giving startups proper access to the market, according to the Startup Coalition.
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WINTER FUEL FURY: Two Scottish pensioners — Peter and Florence Fanning — are attempting to sue the Scottish and English governments over the winter fuel payment cut. Peter Fanning says “both are guilty through action and inaction, of damaging the welfare of pensioners.” Read more on Sky News.
POPE CRASH: A PETA activist protesting the Vatican’s links to bullfighting threw herself in front of Pope Francis’ convoy during his visit to Luxembourg Thursday, causing it to crash. POLITICO has the full story.
READ TO RAISE THE BLOOD PRESSURE: This Economist piece on Ukraine argues the country and its allies need an “urgent change of course” if it’s going to win the war against Russia.
THAT’S SETTLED: Electronic voting machine manufacturer Smartmatic has settled a lawsuit against Newsmax, in which Smartmatic claimed the media outlet’s hosts and guests made false and defamatory statements implying that it participated in rigging the results of the 2020 U.S. presidential election. Read more here.
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No government or opposition broadcast round. Taking it easy like Friday morning.
Today program: Foreign Affairs Committee Chair Emily Thornberry (7.10 a.m.).
Nick Ferrari at Breakfast: Former IDF spokesperson Jonathan Conricus (7.05 a.m.). 
Times Radio Breakfast: Institute for Fiscal Studies Senior Economist Isabel Stockton (7.30 a.m.).
Sky News Breakfast: Former Middle East Minister Alistair Burt (7.15 a.m.) …  Chatham House Associate Fellow Samantha de Bendern (8.15 a.m.) … Environment Agency’s Executive Director for Flood Risk Management Caroline Douglass (8.30 a.m.) … Former Labour Home Secretary Alan Johnson (9.30 a.m.).
POLITICO UK: Why Britain’s ‘deepfake election’ never happened.
Daily Express: ‘It feels like they don’t want him to come back to me.’
Daily Mail: My ‘manly pep talk’ with Harry in bid to stop Megxit.
Daily Mirror: How did he escape justice? 
Daily Star: Attack of the creepy giant baby doll.
Financial Times: Reeves ready to tone down tax raid on rich non-doms.
i: Budget rule change risks higher interest rates.
Metro: Wijacked on rush hour trains. 
The Daily Telegraph: I told Harry not to leave UK, reveals Johnson.
The Guardian: Netanyahu says Lebanon strikes will go on, despite cease-fire call.
The Independent: Revealed: Starmer’s ‘3 pillar’ blueprint to rebuild ties with EU.
The Sun: I’m a celeb .. get me Ozempic in here! 
The Times: Reeves set to profit by tweaking debt rules.
The Economist: The sinking feeling caused by Labour’s clumsy start. 
Prospect: A year of darkness.
Westminster Insider: Host Sascha O’Sullivan dives into what it’s really like to be a contender in a Tory leadership campaign, talking to 2016 candidate Andrea Leadsom, the Tories’ former Deputy Leader Peter Lilley, Tory peer Daniel Finkelstein, and former campaign chiefs Tim Loughton and James Starkie.
Power Play: Host Anne McElvoy talks to Canadian Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland about whether plummeting poll numbers and heavy by-election defeats suggest Canadians have lost faith in Justin Trudeau. 
EU Confidential: This episode tracks Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s recent journey to the U.S. Starting in Kyiv, where POLITICO’s Veronika Melkozerova recounts meeting  Zelenskyy as he gave reporters a sneak peek of his “Victory Plan,” then unpacking his lobbying mission to the White House and the U.N. General Assembly with POLITICO’s Jan Cienski and Dave Brown and the International Crisis Group’s Olga Oliker.
Plus six of the other best political podcasts to listen to this weekend:
Women with Balls: Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson speaks to host Katy Balls live from Labour Party conference to discuss education, university attendance and the recovery of schools and pupils after the pandemic. 
The Rundown: Arts Minister Chris Bryant talks to host Alain Tolhurst about Labour conference, fixing the arts and James Blunt. 
Chopper’s Political Pod: Health Secretary Wes Streeting tells GB News’ Chris Hope the NHS is “over-reliant” on immigration. 
Newscast: Head of U.K. Counter Terrorism Policing Matt Jukes talks online threats, security and social media companies.
Leading: Trade Policy Minister Douglas Alexander — who was also in the Blair and Brown governments — discusses the Blair-Brown rivalries, finding work as an ex-politician and strengthening the U.K’s relationship with the EU.
The Political Party: Matt Forde sits down with former Conservative MP Siobhan Baillie to discuss the emotional impact of losing her seat after one term.
WESTMINSTER WEATHER: There’s a yellow warning for rain, taking some of the TGIF feeling away. High 15C, low 6C. 
SPOTTED … at the launch of Eliza Filby’s new book “Inheritocracy” at the NoMad Hotel in Covent Garden … City AM Editor-in-Chief Christian May … the Sun’s Harry Cole … Onward’s Seb Payne … former SpAds Hannah Galley and Jimmy McLoughlin … Overton Advisory’s Michael Martins … ConHome Editor Giles Dilnot …  and half the CityAM newsroom.
AWKWARD: According to PopBitch, that slightly unsettling AI-generated Keir Starmer cover of the London Standard magazine was not the first choice; it had to settle after not being able to get Charli XCX. 
NOW READ: The Economist’s cover story on Labour’s start in government, saying it needs to act fast because its “political capital peaked the morning after the election,” and the “seemingly trivial mistakes” that populate our social media feeds and front pages “are a symptom of deeper flaws.”
WRITING PLAYBOOK PM: Andrew McDonald.
WRITING PLAYBOOK MONDAY MORNING: Stefan Boscia. 
HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO: Hackney MP and former Shadow Home Secretary Diane Abbott … Former Scottish Lib Dems Leader Willie Rennie … Labour peer Tessa Blackstone … Lib Dem peer Chris Fox.
And celebrating over the weekend: Shadow Business Secretary Kevin Hollinrake … Maidstone and the Weald MP Helen Grant … crossbench peer Patience Wheatcroft … former Conservative MP Simon Clarke … former Camborne and Redruth MP George Eustice … Former Tory and Lib Dem MP Phillip Lee … former Hemel Hempstead MP Mike Penning … Scottish Constitution Secretary Angus Robertson … former Scottish Health Secretary Jeane Freeman … crossbench peer David Hannay … retired Labour peer Lyndon Harrison … Guardian special correspondent Heather Stewart … Sunday Mail chief reporter Hannah Rodger … political biographer Tom Bower … former Channel 4 News presenter Jon Snow … Hammersmith and Chiswick MP Andy Slaughter … Peckham MP Miatta Fahnbulleh … former Bolsover MP Mark Fletcher … retired Tory peer Sebastian Coe … and former No. 10 spinner turned BBC board member Robbie Gibb.
PLAYBOOK COULDN’T HAPPEN WITHOUT: My editors Zoya Sheftalovich and Alex Spence, reporter Bethany Dawson and producer Dean Southwell.
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