Two stories here worth your attention. The rest is Independence Day pageantry, sport, and celebrity.

Starmer has given his first interview since resigning, describing the decision to quit as “intensely personal” and “really tough.” He also took a shot at Andy Burnham, which is the more consequential detail — it signals the Labour succession contest is already turning fractious before it has formally begun. Worth watching how Burnham responds, and whether other candidates use the opening.

Iran’s supreme leader Khamenei’s funeral is drawing attention from the Economist, which frames it as a moment the regime is trying to use to project strength — while the piece argues it actually reveals how much the system has already changed. For anyone with exposure to Middle East risk or energy, the question of what the post-Khamenei succession looks like is now live in a way it wasn’t six months ago. No imminent trigger, but the directional shift is worth noting.

Trump’s Mount Rushmore speech was heavily partisan — “communist menace” framing tied to immigration — but contained nothing that changes the policy picture materially ahead of the November midterms. The broader piece in the Guardian on the state of the special relationship is worth a read over the weekend if you have time, but it’s analytical background rather than a market-moving development.

Nothing else in this batch clears the bar.

UK PMI services data for June prints on Monday morning.

Sources

BBC News, Al Jazeera, Guardian, FT, Politico, TechCrunch, The Economist, Ars Technica — 2026-07-04