Iran shock for Starmer
Political Fix
Financial Times
4.2 • 1.2K Ratings
🗓️ 6 March 2026
⏱️ 35 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
A week into the Iran war and Sir Keir Starmer is scrambling to defend the UK’s position on the conflict. Criticised by Donald Trump over blocking the US from using British military bases to launch initial strikes on Iran, and under pressure from allies such as Cyprus to do more to protect the region, the PM is also facing demands to participate in strikes from the British right. But polling suggests the UK public is broadly in line with his policy on the conflict. This week host Lucy Fisher is joined by the FT’s chief political commentator Robert Shrimsley, deputy opinion editor Miranda Green and our economics editor, Sam Fleming, to discuss London’s response to the war. Plus, the panel examines chancellor Rachel Reeves’ spring forecast and the home secretary Shabana Mahmood’s new immigration policy.
Want more?
Keir Starmer calls for de-escalation and defends his leadership over Iran attacks
In defence of hand-wringers and pearl-clutchers
Trump threatens to cut trade with ‘terrible’ Spain and calls Starmer ‘no Churchill’
Rachel Reeves faces hazardous fiscal picture even without Iran war
UK to further curtail rights of asylum seekers
Wealthy Dubai residents race back to UAE to avoid tax bills
Clips from: BBC
With Kevin Warsh nominated as the next Federal Reserve chair, join FT journalists on Thursday March 19 at 1pm (GMT) for an exclusive subscriber webinar exploring the future direction of the greenback, monetary policy and the global financial system. Register now for The Dollar under Trump at ft.com/trump-dollar and send us your questions.
Sign up here for 30 free days of Stephen Bush's Inside Politics newsletter, winner of the World Association of News Publishers 2023 ‘Best Newsletter’ award.
Our email address is politicalfix@ft.com
Follow Lucy on X: @LOS_Fisher and Bluesky; @lucyfisher.ft.com ;Robert: @robertshrimsley and @robertshrimsley.bsky.social; Sam @Sam1Fleming and Miranda: @greenmiranda and @greenmirandahere.bsky.social
Presented by Lucy Fisher. Produced by Clare Williamson and Laurence Knight. The executive producer is Manuela Saragosa. Audio mix by Sean McGarrity. The FT’s head of audio is Cheryl Brumley.
Read a transcript of this episode on FT.com
Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Transcript
Click on a timestamp to play from that location
| 0:00.0 | By the way, I'm not happy with the UK either. |
| 0:04.0 | So we are very surprised. |
| 0:05.4 | This is not Winston Churchill that we're dealing with. |
| 0:10.2 | President Trump there, who is clearly not content with Sarkir Stama's position on Iran. |
| 0:15.8 | So, after months of diplomacy and flattery of the U.S. president, is the special relationship now in tatters. |
| 0:22.5 | The same could perhaps be said of the spring forecast, which looks like it's been blown out of the water by recent events. |
| 0:29.1 | It's been another difficult week for the Prime Minister, and this time it's foreign policy that's been dominating the domestic agenda. |
| 0:37.5 | Welcome to Political Fix from the Financial Times with me, Lucy Fisher. |
| 0:42.1 | To discuss the UK's handling of the war in Iran and more, |
| 0:45.2 | I'm joined in the studio by my FT colleagues, |
| 0:47.4 | chief political commentator Robert Shimsley. |
| 0:49.5 | Hi Robert. |
| 0:50.0 | Hello, Lucy. |
| 0:51.1 | Deputy opinion editor Miranda Greene. |
| 0:53.0 | Hi, Miranda. |
| 0:53.7 | Hi, Lucy. |
| 0:54.5 | And our economics editor, Sam Fleming. Hi, Sam. Hi, Lucy. Hi, Lucy. Deputy opinion editor Miranda, hi Miranda. Hi, Lucy. And our economics editor, Sam Fleming. |
| 0:56.5 | Hi, Sam. |
| 0:57.2 | Hi, Lucy. |
| 1:00.4 | Well, I think we've got to kick off talking about Iran this week, don't we? |
| 1:04.8 | It's been quite a contorted position that Kirstama finds himself in, |
| 1:09.2 | having initially refused to allow UK bases to be used by the US |
... |
Please login to see the full transcript.
Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from Financial Times, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.
Generated transcripts are the property of Financial Times and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.
Copyright © Tapesearch 2026.