but, at the same time, his critics say that it resulted in a very frosty relationship betweenjapan and south korea and china and so on. also, recently, he s been criticised for being too close to vladimir putin when he was the prime minister, of course, way before russia s invasion of ukraine took place. but ever since then, mr abe has been talking about increasing military spending. and shortly after he says that, you hear the current administration talk about it, so you can see how influential he still is. here in the last few minutes, durham police have said sir keir starmer and angela rayner will not be fined for breaking lockdown rules after campaigning lazio. it follows a police inquiry into this meeting last april. sir keir and his deputy said they would resign if they were issued with a fixed penalty notice
and the deal that is ultimately on the table here now. the table here now. thank you, doctor claire the table here now. thank you, doctor claire rice. labour s shadow health secretary, wes streeting, has said it s simply not true that sir keir starmer is avoiding scrutiny of claims he broke rules on lockdown gatherings. sir keir has cancelled an appearance today where he would have faced questions from journalists. durham police have reopened an investigation into whether covid rules were broken at a campaign planning event in the city last year. 0ur political correspondent, jonathan blake, is in westminster. do we have a do we have a reason do we have a reason why kier starmer has pulled out of the speech this afternoon? brute has pulled out of the speech this afternoon? afternoon? we were told by a spokesman afternoon? we were told by a spokesman for afternoon? we were told by a spokesman for kier afternoon? we were told by a spokesman for kier starmer l afternoon? we wer