THE BIG STORIES
Trump hails a deal for Ukraine’s minerals | Starmer faces heat over aid cuts | University plans big cuts

📣 The US and Ukraine have agreed to a deal on mineral rights, Donald Trump has said, with Volodymyr Zelensky expected to travel to Washington on Friday for a public signing ceremony. The terms of the deal are unclear: claims in some coverage that it means “peace” appear wide of the mark, as it doesn’t appear to include any guarantees on security. (AP) (New York Times)

📣 Sir Keir Starmer announced a £6 billion increase in defence spending, saying Britain faces a “generational” security challenge. The money will be found by cutting the foreign aid budget by the same amount, a move which was criticised by some Labour MPs and senior figures.

• Starmer’s cuts to aid budget are “cruel and shameful” say campaigners (Guardian)

• Reeves: Europe must step up on defence spending (Telegraph)

📣 The scale of the problem facing the University of Edinburgh has been spelt out by its principal, Sir Peter Mathieson, as he said the institution needed to find £140m in annual savings - or roughly 10% of its turnover. He said the university would need “radical” action, reducing staff and other operating costs. (Scotsman)

• The University of Dundee - facing a £30m deficit - will have access to a £15m support package for the sector, finance secretary Shona Robison said yesterday. (Times)

IDEAS
How Starmer should handle Trump

🗣️ Prime Minister Keir Starmer flies off to the US today for his meeting with President Donald Trump with advice from a variety of sources ringing in his ears. Here are some of the suggestions on how he should handle the trip.

🗣️Sir Alex Younger, former MI6 chief: “We need to demonstrate that we are prepared to play a role, take control of our own environment, recognise that we have got to develop our power and that has got to happen quickly.” (BBC Newsnight - via YouTube. This whole 14-minute clip is well worth a watch).

🗣️Historian Anthony Seldon: “Keir Starmer has a remarkable opportunity for national leadership unmatched since Tony Blair’s decisive role in the early weeks after the attacks on Manhattan’s World Trade Center on 9/11. […] So what does Starmer need to do? First, tell Trump that he’s going to increase UK defence spending to not 2.5 per cent but 3 per cent by 2030 – and that he’s going to galvanise the British economy to provide the money to make it happen. Second, he’s going to remake Europe as its founding father Jean Monnet did after the Second World War.[…] The EU has been struggling throughout this century. It’s crying out for drastic reform.” (The Independent)

🗣️Lord Darroch, former UK ambassador to the US: “If I were advising Starmer […] I would say to him he needs to ask a series of questions of Trump to get him to focus, for a moment, on the detail [of a Ukraine peace deal]. What’s the shape of the deal he is planning to do, and most important of all how is he going to put pressure on Putin? […] The other thing I was say to Trump if I were Starmer: this is your chance for your place in history, the man who brought peace and ended this war. But it has to be a fair deal." (BBC Radio 4 via X)

🗣️Political editor Pippa Crerar: No 10 knows the meeting will be the biggest test yet of Starmer’s diplomatic and negotiating skills, as he tries to balance the UK’s security and economic interests with retaining good relations with the unpredictable president. It could also be a game-changer at home […] The UK knows the usual rules of diplomacy – including that such conversations remain private – will not apply. Straight after their talks, Starmer and Trump are expected to hold a news conference. Whether the meeting has been a success – or otherwise – is likely to be clear immediately. (The Guardian)

🗣️Former Foreign Secretary Jeremy Hunt: “The question for us is whether Ukraine ends up being like South Korea or South Vietnam. The former is a flourishing democracy that has found a way to prosper next door to an aggressive and unpredictable neighbour. The latter was subsumed, humiliatingly, into an autocratic regime. Keir Starmer is rightly pushing for a Korean solution.” (The Telegraph £)

AROUND SCOTLAND

📣 Andy Burnham says Glasgow should form a “five-city pact” with cities across the UK and Ireland to help drive development. The mayor of Greater Manchester was talking to The Herald as part of the title’s week-long look at the future of Glasgow. (Herald)

📣 Orkney’s council tax could rise by 15% - the biggest in Scotland so far - after councillors rejected a suggested rise of 20%. (BBC)

• Falkirk Council is eyeing a 13.7% increase, to be discussed at a meeting next week. (Scotsman)

📣 A man has been arrested after a van filled with fireworks was set on fire in Clydebank early on Sunday morning. A 19-year-old will appear in court later today. (Sun)

📣 Tributes have been paid to the Scottish businessman murdered in Kenya, with friends describing Campbell Scott as a “larger than life” figure “steadfast in his willingness to help”. (STV)

AROUND THE UK

📣 The chief executive of NHS England, Amanda Pritchard, resigned yesterday after meetings with Wes Streeting, the health secretary, to discuss his plans to overhaul the service - and her role. Sources told the Guardian that the parting is amicable. (The Guardian had the exclusive)

• Annabel Denham: “It’s […] widely suspected that she and Wes Streeting may not see eye to eye on reform. If true, perhaps there’s more hope for the NHS than I thought.” (Telegraph £)

• Last month: Pritchard was criticised by MPs who accused her of lacking the “drive and dynamism” to reform the NHS. (Guardian)

📣 Ninety deaths are now being investigated as possible manslaughter at an NHS hospital in Brighton. The number of allegedly suspicious deaths has grown from an initial 40, with allegations of medical negligence and cover-up being examined. There are internal concerns about some surgeons still working at the hospital despite the investigation. The Guardian has the exclusive.

📣 Almost all undergraduates are using AI in their studies according to a survey. 92% said they used AI, most often as a study aid. But 18% admitted to using AI-generated text directly in their submitted work. (Guardian)

AROUND THE WORLD

🌎 Pope Francis remained “critical but stable” last night as he continued to work from hospital, suffering from double pneumonia. (AP)

🌎 President Trump plans to offer wealthy foreigners $5m “gold card” residencies to replace part of the existing visa system. (Axios)

🌎 Apple has promised to fix a bug in its voice-to-text function that briefly replaced words with an “r” consonant - including “racist” - for “Trump”. (The bug appears to be fixed this morning, before you check…) (NBC News)

BUSINESS & ECONOMICS

💰One in 10 part-time jobs in shops are at risk because of the Chancellor’s Budget changes, according to the British Retail Consortium. (Daily Business)

💰 Tesla shares slumped by more than 8% after EU and UK sales of their electric cars fell by almost half in January. Tesla’s been facing stiff competition from Chinese manufacturers… but CEO Elon Musk’s political interventions have also put off buyers, say analysts. (MarketWatch)

💰 It’s the last call for the Honey Almondmilk Flat White and that Chocolate Cookie Crumble Crème Frappuccino that always holds up the line… Starbucks is culling menu items in an effort to reduce waiting times, improve consistency and “make way for innovation”. It’s also cutting 1,000 staff. (AP) (Independent)

SPORT

⚽️ Celtic thumped Aberdeen 5-1 last night, with Daizen Maeda bagging a double to banish thoughts of his big misses against Bayern Munich last week. (BBC)

⚽️ New interim Rangers boss Barry Ferguson faced the press for the first time ahead of his new team’s game against Kilmarnock tonight, in the modest setting of the Rangers training complex, rather than the opulent rooms at Ibrox. (The Scotsman)