The Observer Daily: The private trials of Keir Starmer

The best of The Observer, from across our newsroom View in browser The private trials of Keir Starmer The best of The Observer, from across our newsroom Xavier Greenwood • Friday 27 June 2025 Dear friend, "Keir Starmer can be as impenetrable as the front door behind which he now lives." There is hardly a better description of Starmer, who is front and centre in national life but rarely gives anything away. Except that is to Tom Baldwin, his biographer, who talks to the prime minister at length about his first year in office. Behind the buttoned-up public image is a man who was shaken up by the arson attack on his family, delayed his first holiday in more than a year to clean out the house of his late brother, and "deeply regrets" his island of strangers speech. It's an extraordinary interview, which gets right to the heart of the paradox. "His determination to stop politics venturing too deep into what's left of his own 'real life' can, conversely," Baldwin writes, "make him look remote from other 'real lives' and his MPs." In this piece, that distance between Starmer and the British people he governs shortens – just a little. Click here to read the full interview → "The enemy of nonsense" – George Orwell Also in The Observer Wedding crashers After months of meticulous planning, schedule juggling and security organisation, Jeff Bezos's Venice wedding to Lauren Sánchez hit a major stumbling block this week: Venetians. Protest groups have made their feelings clear on one of the world's richest and most powerful men picking their city for his big day. It means that at the very last minute, as some guests begin arriving in town, plans have had to change – with the wedding moving away from Venice's city centre towards the old industrial district. Bezos has also hired former US Marines to provide a security cordon in the face of mounting protests. Stephen Armstrong speaks to an anti-Bezos protester, plus one of the luxury organisers planning the wedding, in a piece that shines a light on one of the most controversial weddings in decades. Click here to read more → Marley and me by Sean O'Hagan       In 1973 the photographer Dennis Morris bunked off school and went to take photos of a young reggae group who were about to play four nights at the Speakeasy Club as part of a UK tour. The group were the Wailers, and when they spotted Morris waiting to capture the band's arrival at soundcheck, the group's lead singer, Bob Marley, invited him to join them on the bus for the remaining dates of the tour. Sean O'Hagan, who spoke with Morris ahead of a London exhibition of his photography, writes: "Morris shot Marley onstage, but also relaxing between shows, the results amounting to an intimate portrait of the artist on the cusp of the crossover success that would soon follow." Click here to read more → Pleasing President Trump is poor value for Britain's £2 billion by Bernard Gray       This week the UK government announced that it had purchased 12 F-35A jets capable of carrying US nuclear bombs and dropping them as part of any Nato nuclear campaign. In an opinion piece for The Observer, Bernard Gray writes how the decision ignores the threadbare state of the UK's defences, especially when the bombs remain firmly under America's control. Click here to read more → Rwanda and DRC consider peace at last by Fred Harter      For nearly 30 years the DRC and Rwanda have been locked in a complex and seemingly intractable conflict that has claimed the lives of six million people. Fred Harter describes the violence as "one of the great tragedies of this century". But the two nations are expected to sign a US-brokered peace agreement today that could finally bring the pain to an end. This piece is part of The Sensemaker, which features calm and clear analysis on what's driving the news across tech, geopolitics, finance and culture. To get the full newsletter sent to your inbox every morning, sign up here. Click here to read more → Listen The Slow Newscast How to disappear In the UK, a person is reported missing every 90 seconds. But how in a society of internet, phones and social media is it so easy to go missing? This is the story of two men and how sometimes people don't even realise they've gone missing     Click here to listen → Thanks for reading. We'll be back on Monday.   Xavier Greenwood Senior editor, newsletters The Observer   My Account To manage your newsletters, track tickets and more, go to the 'My account' page on the Observer website: Manage my newsletters Follow Follow The Observer on social media on your preferred platform:   The Observer     The Observer Food Monthly The Observer Magazine The Observer New Review   Listen Listen for free in the Tortoise app or wherever you get your podcasts: Want to change how you receive these emails? Update email preferences Copyright © 2025 Tortoise Media. All rights reserved. Did this email get caught in your spam filter? Add editor@newsroom.tortoisemedia.com to your address book to never miss an email again. No longer want to receive this newsletter? Unsubscribe here.