Portrait of the week: Starmer’s EU deal, Lineker’s BBC departure and an outbreak of camel flu

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Sir Keir Starmer was joined by EU representatives in London to celebrate new agreements with the bloc. EU access to British fishing grounds would now be in place until 2038, but it would be easier to export fish from Britain. The government said agreements on food exports and energy trade would benefit Britain by £8.9 billion a year by 2040 – 0.3 per cent of GDP. The government emphasised a defence and security pact and gave a lunch aboard the frigate HMS Sutherland. Use of e-gates by British travellers would in future be decided by each EU state. A youth mobility scheme transmogrified into a youth experience scheme and remained to be agreed. Richard Tice of Reform UK said: ‘It’s a huge betrayal; it’s surrender on steroids.’ Kemi Badenoch, the Conservative leader, also used the word ‘betrayal’.

Angela Rayner, the Deputy Prime Minister, was reported by the Telegraph to have pressed for tax rises on savers, by measures such as reinstating the lifetime pension allowance limit. Inflation rose from 2.6 to 3.5 per cent. GDP grew by 0.7 per cent in the first quarter of 2025. Thames Water decided to ‘pause’ its scheme to pay out big ‘retention’ payments to senior executives. Gary Lineker was to leave the BBC without a payoff on 25 May. One in ten adults have no savings, according to the Financial Conduct Authority. Westminster council ordered the owner of a house in Mayfair to refill a sub-basement housing a cinema, gym and sauna, excavated without planning permission.

Sir Keir Starmer, on an official visit to Albania, said Britain was in talks to set up overseas ‘return hubs’ for failed asylum seekers; Albania ruled out the idea. Shabana Mahmood, the Justice Secretary, decided to release more than 1,000 prisoners to make room for more. Private data, including criminal records, were hacked from the Legal Aid online system. MPs spent five hours debating amendments to the Terminally Ill Adults (End of Life) Bill. Three Iranian men arrested on 3 May were charged under the National Security Act with conduct likely to assist Iran. A Ukrainian, Roman Lavrynovych, 21, of Sydenham, appeared before magistrates accused of arson with intent to endanger life after two properties and a car connected to Sir Keir Starmer were set on fire; two other men were later charged. Greggs is to try keeping its self-service food and drinks behind the counter to deter shoplifting. The Labour party postponed its annual Women’s Conference, which previously admitted people self-identifying as women. After the Crown Prosecution Service declined to take action against Rupert Lowe, denounced by former Reform colleagues for supposed ‘threats of physical violence’, the MP called Nigel Farage ‘a coward and a viper’.

Abroad

President Volodymyr Zelensky went to Turkey for peace talks but President Vladimir Putin of Russia did not show up. President Donald Trump of America, travelling in the Middle East, said: ‘Look, nothing’s going to happen until Putin and I get together.’ Russia launched its biggest drone attack of the war. After a two-hour telephone conversation with Mr Putin, Mr Trump said: ‘Russia and Ukraine will immediately start negotiations toward a ceasefire.’ Mr Putin offered only to work on a ‘memorandum on a possible future peace agreement’. The pro-EU mayor of Bucharest, Nicusor Dan, won the Romanian presidential elections.

Israel launched Operation Gideon’s Chariots to seize ‘strategic areas’ of the Gaza strip. Mr Trump said: ‘We are looking at Gaza, we’re gonna get that taken care of. A lot of people are starving.’ After a ten-week blockade, Israel announced it would allow a ‘basic’ amount of food to enter. Britain, France and Canada told Israel they would take ‘concrete actions’ if it continued an ‘egregious’ expansion of operations. Britain suspended trade talks with Israel. Joe Biden, the former US president, was found to have prostate cancer that had spread to his bones. Cases of Mers, the coronavirus disease also known as camel flu, were found in Saudi Arabia.

Pope Leo’s Mass of inauguration at St Peter’s was attended by leaders such as J.D. Vance and Mr Zelensky, with the Duke of Edinburgh representing the King. Hadi Matar, 27, who stabbed and blinded Sir Salman Rushdie in one eye, was sentenced to 25 years. Valeria Marquez, a 23-year-old Mexican influencer, was shot dead while live streaming on TikTok. A three-masted tall ship, the Cuauhtémoc, of the Mexican Navy crashed into a span of Brooklyn Bridge, bringing down the topmasts and killing two.      CSH