In Prime Minister’s Questions, Sir Keir Starmer set out a busy agenda dominated by foreign policy and domestic pressures, while facing demands from opposition leaders for clearer detail and faster parliamentary scrutiny.
Starmer told MPs he had attended a “Coalition of the Willing” meeting in Paris alongside European and US counterparts and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. He said the UK, France and Ukraine had agreed a declaration of intent covering the possible deployment of multinational forces if a peace deal is reached. Starmer emphasised any deployment would come only after a ceasefire and would require further legal steps. He added that if troops were to be deployed under such an agreement, he would put the matter to Parliament for a debate and vote.
The opposition leader criticised the government for not making an immediate full statement to the House, arguing that committing to potential troop deployment was among the most serious decisions Parliament faces. She pressed Starmer on what influence the UK was exerting on the US over Greenland, and called for an urgent meeting of NATO leaders. Starmer responded that NATO remained central to UK security and said he had been in contact with US senior figures, later adding he had spoken to President Donald Trump twice over the Christmas period about security guarantees.
Defence spending became a focal point, with the opposition demanding a firm timetable for reaching 3% of GDP. Starmer highlighted increased defence funding in the budget and argued the armed forces had been “hollowed out” under previous governments, while avoiding a specific year for hitting 3%. A separate exchange touched on a Northern Ireland legacy bill, with Starmer saying safeguards were being developed with veterans’ concerns in mind and that further detail would emerge during committee stages.
Away from international security, MPs raised issues including leasehold reform, business rates pressures on high streets and hospitality, suicide prevention and mental health support, the rollout of a chickenpox vaccine, coastal pollution from lost cargo containers, and calls for an inquiry into maternity and neonatal deaths at Leeds Teaching Hospitals. Starmer responded with commitments to publish draft legislation on leasehold and to engage on proposals such as suicide prevention campaigns and environmental clean-up accountability.
