Keir Starmer will walk into the NATO summit in Ankara in July as a leader already gone, facing the humiliating question of how Britain will meet defence spending targets with no authority to answer. According to political correspondent Aaron Newbury, the outgoing Prime Minister has become a lame duck, stripped of power and credibility.
Starmer's Authority Evaporates After Resignation Announcement
Starmer's announcement that he would step down on Monday left him with only a few weeks left in Downing Street. The moment he blubbed his resignation, whatever little authority the trappings of office still afforded him simply evaporated. Now, when world leaders ask how Britain will meet the target of spending 5% of GDP on defence by 2035, Starmer cannot bind his successor to spending plans or promise cash he will not be there to spend.
His own Defence Investment Plan, which blew his Government apart, commits Britain to a miserable 2.68% by 2030—billions short of what the military says it needs. His now-former Defence Secretary, John Healey, quit over it, and Al Carns, a decorated Royal Marine, marched out with him.
No Mandate, No Money, No Future
Starmer will amble to Ankara with little more than an empty briefcase of undelivered pledges. According to Newbury, the Prime Minister cannot stand there and bind his successor to spending plans he has no power left to declare. He can do and say absolutely nothing of worth to anyone.
European leaders, however, have lined up to praise the outgoing Prime Minister. Poland's Donald Tusk purred that, thanks to Keir, 'one could forget about Brexit for a moment.' Newbury notes that this single sentence is the epitaph of Starmer's premiership: loved in Brussels yet found wanting in Britain, off to Ankara with no money, no mandate, and no future.
A Lame Duck Cannot Lead
Newbury argues that a lame duck cannot lead; all Starmer can do is quack and flap, smile for the cameras, and hope nobody asks him anything difficult. The verdict on his legacy is already being written—not by the British public, but by European leaders who see him as a weak figurehead.
The question remains: what is the point of sending him to the NATO summit at all? With no authority to pledge anything, Starmer's presence is little more than a ritualistic humiliation of his outgoing premiership.
