Dear John,

With just hours to go before the tensest showdown between European nations since… oh wait, that’s Eurovision. There are in fact 48 hours to go until the government’s crunch UK-EU reset summit, and we take a look back at the week that saw Keir Starmer accused of aping Enoch Powell, Ukraine and Russia engage in their first direct talks for three years, and European leaders gather in Tirana, in what we’re fondly calling a warm-up gig. 

Read on for Best for Britain’s round up, seemingly sponsored by the Albanian Tourism Board.

Brits back ambitious reset

Our new polling this week - which made headlines in the Independent, Guardian, Evening Standard and others - revealed, as our supporters will know, strong public backing for the government to go further to secure better trade terms with the EU.

YouGov polled almost 5,000 Brits and found significant public support for aligning with EU animal and plant standards (53% in favour), agreeing a new defence pact with the EU (69% in favour), a youth mobility scheme (63%)  and sharing access to fishing waters (43%).

What’s more, the data shows a majority of voters (52%) would be open to aligning with all EU rules on goods and products with only a quarter opposed (25%) - with this trend mirrored among Labour voters who now say they are considering voting for Reform UK.

And for everyone keeping a close eye on Monday’s summit (venue TBC at time of writing), our Director of Comms has provided a concise preview of what we might expect.

‘Migration, migration, migration…’

After the local election results appeared to set the Reform UK cat among Labour’s pigeons, it was perhaps unsurprising to see the Prime Minister start the week with a major speech on (what else?) immigration. Stressing the need for the rules to be “fair”, Starmer argued: “In a diverse nation like ours, and I celebrate that, these rules become even more important: without them, we risk becoming an island of strangers, not a nation that walks forward together.” 

What did surprise some was his tone. Labour MPs, including John McDonnell, drew comparisons to Enoch Powell’s infamous ‘rivers of blood’ speech, and refugee charities criticised the PM for his language, including the claim that high net migration figures had caused “incalculable” damage to British society. The Refugee Council’s Enver Solomon called for “principled competence rather than populist performance”, and rightly highlighted the generations of families, neighbours, colleagues and friends “who have enriched British life and contributed to our national prosperity”.

Don't stop the clock

In another unsurprising turn of events, after three years [or 26,280 hours, to be precise], the first set of direct peace talks between Ukraine and Russia ended after less than 120 minutes, with Kyiv accusing the Kremlin of new demands to withdraw Ukrainian forces from swathes of territory, according to the Associated Press. That’s now 115 days [2,760 hours] past the US President’s self-imposed 24-hour deadline, for anyone still counting. 

US secretary of state Marco Rubio insisted Thursday that the US did not “have high expectations of what will happen”, claiming a breakthrough would only be possible in a meeting between Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin. While speaking from the European Political Community meeting in Albania, Zelensky argued the failure of Russian representatives to agree to a ceasefire made it “100% clear that Putin continues to undermine diplomacy”. UK, French, German and Polish leaders Starmer, Emmanuel Macron, Friedrich Merz and Donald Tusk have since spoken to Trump and Zelensky, with Starmer dubbing the Russian position “clearly unacceptable” and Europe “closely aligning” its response.

Election round up

With the UK and EU chief’s talks going seemingly down to the wire in Tirana, it’s only fair to highlight Albania’s preliminary parliamentary election results which on Tuesday showed a clear win for the ruling Socialist Party - and PM Edi Rama’s bid for a fourth term and EU entry. 

It was then confirmed Rama had secured a comfortable majority, which he called the “most humbling experience of my life” and a “historic moment for Albania”. Per Politico, he mocked his opponents in the center-right Democratic Party for hiring Republican strategist Chris LaCivita, commenting: “Hiring LaCivita and thinking you can become Trump is like hiring a Hollywood hairdresser and thinking you’ll become Brad Pitt.”

Parish notices

While we promise not to make this a weekly feature, your Weekend Wire writer thought readers might enjoy the latest update from the Vatican. Ahead of his inauguration as pontiff this Saturday, His Holiness Pope Leo XIV met with a 23-year-old Italian tennis star named - wait for it - Jannik Sinner. Sinner recently served a three-month doping ban but competed in the Italian Open this Thursday. The Pope has previously described himself as a keen “amateur tennis player”. Insert joke about the miracle of the nets here [groan].

Cringe Column 

This has been your Weekend Wire from Best for Britain. Keep an eye out next week, of course, for the big one… as the much anticipated UK-EU Reset Summit finally takes place on Monday, May 19. 

Follow Best for Britain on all the usual channels, and keep up to date with all the news from the crucial gathering right here. Enjoy your Eurovision parties and have a good one!

Jessica Frank-Keyes

Senior Press Officer

Best for Britain