our political editor chris mason is travelling with him and sent this update hello from a rather soggy airfield. quite a moment, this, for sir keir starmer as he prepares to get on board the prime ministerial plane and head to washington. he will have a chance to visit the white house, to meet president biden, and also introduce himself to lots of other world leaders at this nato summit. and all of this less than a week on from the general election. obviously at a nato summit, a gathering of the defence alliance, a real focus on security. labour have promised that they want to spend 2.5% of national income on defence, but crucially, they have not put a timeframe on it, a deadline on it, which means there is a question about whether it is ever achieved. so lots to discuss about defence, and quite a moment for the new prime minister. the trip marks sir keir starmer s first overseas trip as prime minister. he had this to sayjust before boarding his plane to the us. my message is
this is bbc news, the headlines. the prime minister heads to the nato summit in washington crucialfor ukraine and also crucial forjoe biden, who s been dogged about questions about whether he s right for the job. questions about whether he s right forthejob. before questions about whether he s right for thejob. before heading to nato, sir keir starmer addressed mps from the despatch box for the first time as prime minister. the leaders are lindsay hoyle is dragged from the benches to speaker s by mps in a tradition resenting his reelection by members. and we re building up to the semifinals at euro england against the netherlands tomorrow. here in bbc news, it s time for newscast. newscast from the bbc. hello, it s adam from newscast from the bbc. hello, it s adam from the newscast from the bbc. hello, it s adam from the studio newscast from the bbc. hello, it s adam from the studio - newscast from the bbc. hello, it s adam from the studio - and - newscast from t
sir keir starmer used to occupy and do the role of leader of the opposition. but with 175 fewer of his mps behind him. so a very stark reminder. and that s what one tory mp said to me, it sjust becomes very obvious. even if you didn t know that there s been a massive shift in parliamentary power and then of course, loads more liberal democrats, far fewer snp and then the new faces like nigel farage, reform mps, a couple of extra green mps as well. so definitely feels like a real change. and of course all those new ones looking really happy. i m a bit lost as they wander around and try and find their way around, but you know, looking very happy. lots of hugging and smiles and we will see how long all that lasts. and nigel farage used some of his first ever speech as a as an elected mp in the house of commons to criticise the previous speaker, john bercow, who lots of people thought tried to thwart brexit. and people had sort of hinted at that in in the chamber before, but neve
just to go initially back to the situation in rafah, how likely is it that israel won t listen to the warnings coming from its closest allies? it warnings coming from its closest allies? . , warnings coming from its closest allies? ., , ., , , allies? it remains to be seen. the statement allies? it remains to be seen. the statement from allies? it remains to be seen. the statement from prime allies? it remains to be seen. the statement from prime minister i statement from prime minister benjamin netanyahu seemed suddenly very urgent asking for the plan is to be drawn up by the israeli defence forces to prepare for a ground invasion but we haven t seen mobilisation are very much detail on those plans, we ve seen lots of international reaction and we haven t seen ground operations in the north of the gaza strip when leaflets have been dropped and sms text messages are sent to palestinians urging them to evacuate so there is a debate in estoril about whether there is an im