Starmer-Trump meeting live: PM to use crunch talks to tell president US backstop needed to deter Putin

Pubs will not be banned from selling pints, a minister has insisted.

Treasury minister James Murray rejected Conservative claims that the Government wants to use new legislation to allow it to “ban pubs from selling pints”.

The Lib Dems accused the Tories of scaremongering after the Opposition tabled a Commons motion raising concerns over the impact of Government policy on family businesses, including a claim that a pint ban would be possible under the Product Regulation and Metrology Bill.

Tory former minister Lord Sharpe of Epsom has previously claimed the “careless drafting” of the Bill, currently being debated in the Lords, would open the door for the British pint to be replaced as a standard measure for beer should a “metric maniac” hold the relevant Cabinet role.

For the Government, Mr Murray said it was “frankly absurd” for the Tories to suggest the pint was under threat.

He told the Commons: “The pint is part of our nation, we do not need a new law to protect the pint any more than we need a new law to say the sun must rise in the morning.

“I wonder, frankly, whether the members opposite who drafted that part of the motion may have been close to a number of pints at the point at which they did so.”

Former Boris Johnson aide Dominic Cummings has called for voters to back Nigel Farage’s Reform UK in the May local elections.

He did not say who he would vote for if there was an imminent general election. But, amid a furious backlash at Labour’s policies so far, he said everyone should back Mr Farage’s party in May.

Asked who he would vote for in a national election, Mr Cummings said: “Dunno yet, but obviously everyone should vote Reform this spring, no downsides, just upsides.”

A mass Reform vote, with the party surging in the polls, would pile major pressure on Sir Keir Starmer while helping Mr Farage paint his party as the real opposition to Labour.

Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky is expected to come to the UK this weekend, it’s understood.

It is thought that Mr Zelensky is planning to make the trip as Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer is due to host a summit of European leaders to discuss defence.

US President Donald Trump has also said that Mr Zelensky will visit the White House on Friday to sign an economic deal that will include US access to Ukrainian rare earth minerals in exchange for American arms.

Sir Keir said on Tuesday: “I have spoken to President Zelensky a number of times.

“I spoke to him on Wednesday night, as the democratically elected leader in Ukraine, [and] I spoke to him again on Saturday.

“I have spoken to President Macron this afternoon on his return to France, and I am hosting a number of countries at the weekend for us to continue to discuss how we go forward together as allies in light of the situation that we face.”

Political editor David Maddox writes:

One issue, which Trump has been quiet on but remains a thorn in the relationship, will be Chagos.

This visit will decide in effect if the deal of handing over the Indian Ocean islands goes ahead. At the moment – given the way he has tried to reclaim the Panama Canal, control Greenland and Canada – many expect Trump to veto the deal.

It would be another humiliation for a British prime minister whose softly-softly approach to this most rightwing of US presidents over Ukraine and other issues is already attracting criticism and concern.

But Trump’s love of the Royal family and the apparent desire for the King or Prince and Princess of Wales to have an official visit may yet prove to be Sir Keir’s trump card.

Political editor David Maddox writes:

The traditional gifts for Keir Starmer’s visit to see Donald Trump for the first time since the inauguration have yet to be announced, but it is a fair bet that the prime minister will hand the US president an Arsenal shirt with the number 47 (for 47th president) on it.

The shirt of the prime minister’s favourite football team has been his safe go-to gift for all his first meetings with previous world leaders and this is one trip above all where he will be wanting to play safe.

Insiders have told The Independent that Sir Keir will receive a “respectful” and even “warm” greeting from the new president – at least publicly – and we’re likely to see similar jovial treatment in the Oval Office in front of journalists as French president Emmanuel Macron did earlier this week.

The trouble is that Sir Keir does not appear to have Macron’s gallic charm. In fact, referring back to his obsession with football, people around Trump have suggested the British prime minister “is a bore”.

But Starmer certainly seems all too eager to please his host, and there is widespread speculation that there will be an announcement on Trump visiting the UK and addressing the Houses of Parliament as well as a possible Royal visit to the US – both of which should help the prime minister curry favour with his US counterpart.

Keir Starmer has made it clear he intends to stand up to Donald Trump over Ukraine as he jets over to Washington DC for one of the most consequential meetings ever between a US president and British prime minister.

Speaking to journalists on the flight over the Atlantic, Sir Keir insisted that Russia’s Vladimir Putin has to be viewed as the aggressor.

He will make clear that there can be no negotiations about Ukraine without Ukraine, and will push for Europe to play a greater part in global defence.

However, in a challenging meeting which will also encompass awkward conversations on plans to hand the Chagos Islands to Mauritius, trade deals and a potential visit by President Trump, Sir Keir was keen to talk up the relationship between the two.

Political editor David Maddox reports: