Sir Keir Starmer is proving to be an unlucky prime minister. This week began with a demonstration of his haplessness. The Prime Minister travelled to Ankara to announce an £8 billion deal to supply the Turkish air force with 20 new Eurofighter Typhoons, beginning in 2030. Yet the political headlines in Britain were full of other more embarrassing issues: the collapsed China spy trial case, the accidental release of a convicted sex offender due for deportation, the aftermath of Labour’s humiliating loss of the Senedd seat in the Caerphilly by-election.

The commercial deal with Turkey is important. Starmer described it in his strange, resentful, maundering way as ‘the biggest fighter jet exports deal in a generation’, which is subject to several qualifications. Nonetheless, the UK defence i

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