Starmer’s brutal anniversary

Welcome to Balance of Power, bringing you the latest in global politics. If you haven't yet, sign up here.

It's only last summer that Keir Starmer led his Labour Party to a convincing victory in the UK general election. On the eve of his anniversary in power, he's finding defeat around every turn.

Yesterday, that struggle played out brutally in the House of Commons. Having backtracked on plans for welfare reform, Starmer ducked the chance to publicly support his finance minister, Rachel Reeves. She sat behind him visibly emotional — officials later said that was due to a personal issue — and her tearful face was on the front pages of today's UK newspapers.

WATCH: Starmer failed to fully back Reeves in the House of Commons.

The prime minister said last night that Reeves would stay for "many years to come." But the damage was already done and Labour's political turmoil spilled into financial markets. Bond yields surged, stocks slid, and the pound tumbled.

While market upheaval eased somewhat today, the spate of policy U-turns has robbed the government of much-needed revenue — and the veneer of fiscal discipline Reeves had built.

Labour won a huge majority because the country had tired of 14 years of Conservative rule that went from grim comedy under Boris Johnson to fiscal farce under Liz Truss. Starmer promised common-sense leadership that would deliver on public services like health care and prisons without blowing out the budget or broad tax raises.

But he failed to prepare the public or his left-leaning party for the benefit cuts Reeves would quickly seek. Starmer ended up alienating many in his party and looking indecisive with voters.

There are lessons for Labour and its opponents about the need for a credible plan.

In the US, President Donald Trump is gleefully piling on debt through his signature bill that will deliver tax cuts at a cost of some $3.8 trillion. There are already suggestions that investor patience with the US is running thin.

Nigel Farage's right-wing populist Reform UK has eclipsed Labour in public opinion polls. But he, too, will need to take note.

Faced with a grim financial outlook and unforgiving markets, there are no easy answers. — Alan Crawford

A poster showing Farage and Starmer ahead of a Reform UK local-election campaign launch in Birmingham on March 28. Photographer: Darren Staples/Bloomberg

Global Must Reads

Trump's administration lifted export-license requirements for chip-design software sales in China as Washington and Beijing implement a deal to ease some restrictions on trade in critical technologies. Meanwhile, a new accord between the US and Vietnam risks provoking retaliatory steps from China, according to Bloomberg Economics, as it includes a 40% tariff on goods deemed to be transshipped through the Southeast Asian country.

US airstrikes on Iran set back the country's nuclear program by one to two years, according to the Pentagon, adding to uncertainty around the status of the facilities after Trump said they'd been obliterated. Meanwhile, Trump's demand to end Benjamin Netanyahu's corruption trial has added momentum to an effort from across the Israeli political spectrum that aims to wrap up the prime minister's case, one that's upended local politics for years.

An anti-US mural on the wall of the former embassy in Tehran. Photographer: Mohammadali Najib/AFP/Getty Images

House Republicans overcame a critical procedural hurdle to advance Trump's massive budget package, holding a key vote open for hours past midnight and into today as the president and his allies worked to convince potential holdouts. Despite Republicans controlling both the House and Senate, the legislation ran into resistance from cost-conscious conservatives as well as swing-district moderates, who worry the measures cut too deeply into Medicaid and other safety-net programs.

Thailand's suspended prime minister, Paetongtarn Shinawatra, was sworn in as a cabinet minister today, allowing her to attend ministerial meetings while awaiting the results of a court review of her alleged misconduct. Paetongtarn could become the third leader from the Shinawatra clan to lose power over the past 19 years. Here are four things to watch as the crisis unfolds.

The Pentagon faced criticism for its decision to halt shipments of air-defense missiles to Ukraine, with Democrat and Republican lawmakers arguing the move was shortsighted at a time when Russia has ramped up its attacks. They challenged the argument that the pause was necessary while the US reviews its stockpiles and weighs the need to save weapons for other threats.

A federal judge granted former Argentine President Cristina Fernández de Kirchner's request for Brazil's Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva to visit her this week while she's under house arrest.

Kirchner and Lula in 2015. Photographer: Juan Mabromata/AFP/Getty Images

US Fed Chair Jerome Powell's silence on his future plans is frustrating Trump's advisers seeking his replacement and raising speculation that he could stay on the board if Trump picks a nominee who is overly deferential to the president's demands.

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz's ruling coalition rebuffed calls to immediately expand an electricity-tax discount to households and additional companies, after the decision to limit the concession to larger manufacturers, farmers and the forestry sector prompted a storm of protest.

Mineral smuggling from Democratic Republic of Congo into neighboring Rwanda has reached "unprecedented levels" amid the occupation of a large swath of the region by Kigali-backed M23 rebels, according to a UN report.

Podcast: On the latest episode of Trumponomics, we explore the potential for collateral damage from the president's immigration crackdown and whether there will be an upside in the longer term for US-born workers. Listen on Apple, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts.

Sign up for the Washington Edition newsletter for news from the US capital and watch Balance of Power at 1 and 5 p.m. ET weekdays on Bloomberg Television.

Chart of the Day

South Africa's first generation of citizens born after the end of apartheid are able to buy property that was once off limits to their parents. But there's another obstacle to homeownership: price. Nowhere is this more evident than in Cape Town, home to Africa's most expensive real estate. The city has seen an influx of newcomers. Citizens are escaping dysfunction and infrastructure decay elsewhere, while foreigners are lured by the area's beauty and still-cheap home values relative to other developed regions.

And Finally

Sherpas working on Mount Everest are required to haul a heavy load of trash, including human waste, empty oxygen cylinders and discarded ladders, navigating a four-hour hike back to base camp across crumbling glacial ice and treacherous crevasses. During the most recent climbing season, they had help from two giant drones manufactured by China's DJI. The UAVs can complete the same journey in six minutes, sharing the task of clearing an expanding volume of refuse piling up on the world's highest peak.