Keir Starmer under pressure to 'show strength' in Middle East as PM attempts to rebrand as 'global statesman' over Iran

Sir Keir Starmer is under pressure to "show strength" in the Middle East as Labour aides attempt to shore up the Prime Minister's position by rebranding him as a "global statesman".

The Prime Minister is currently in the Gulf after meeting with the Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia, Mohammed Bin Salman, as part of ongoing talks with allies to give shipping the "confidence" to pass through the Strait of Hormuz.

However, Shadow Foreign Secretary Dame Priti Patel has called for the Prime Minister to demand the release of Britons detained by the United Arab Emirates.

She told The Telegraph: "While he is in the Gulf, Starmer must show some strength and ensure our partners in the UAE do not keep Brits locked up simply for filming their surroundings."

Closer to home, Labour sources have suggested they expect a challenge to the Prime Minister’s leadership if the party suffers heavy losses on May 7, when more than 5,000 council seats are up for election in England, plus the Senedd and Holyrood elections.

Backbench MPs said the Parliamentary Labour Party (PLP) would try to compare the Prime Minister's approach to the war to the position of the Conservatives, Greens and Reform UK.

One said: "There is a contrast there that we will be drawing on, between what we are doing about Iran and what the Greens and Reform would do.”

Another backbencher told GB News: "Keir's position is getting a lot of support from both the PLP and even more so among party members."

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Keir Starmer arrives in UAE

Sir Keir Starmer has arrived in the United Arab Emirates for talks on the Iran war as the ceasefire agreement comes under strain.

Here's what's happening today

Good Morning from all of us on the GB News Politics team, here's what's happening today in Westminster and beyond.

Sir Keir Starmer is still in the Gulf as he said there was a "sense of real relief" at the ceasefire in the US-Iran conflict, however a lot of work still needed to be done to make the peace deal last and restore oil and gas supplies through the Strait of Hormuz.

Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper is set to tell a speech to City leaders later today that Lebanon must be included in the ceasefire agreement between the United States and Iran.

Addressing an event at the Mansion House, the Foreign Secretary will also warn there "must be no return to conflict" following the earlier announcement by US President Donald Trump of a two-week pause in the conflict.

Meanwhile, Green Party leader Zack Polanski will be launching his party's local elections launch in London alongside Hackney Mayoral Candidate Zoë Garbett and other local councillors.

He's expected to criticise "failing Labour councils" as he lays out the Greens' social housing plans as his party eyes up large gains in the capital.

Across the border, Rhun ap Iorwerth will be kicking off Plaid Cymru's election campaign as he promises a "more ambitious Wales" with his party leading in the polls in the Senedd.

Elsewhere, Liberal Democrat Leader Sir Ed Davey is in Greater Manchester, where he will be sewing school uniforms.