Who a new prime minister receives first is a choice, and Andy Burnham made his within days of taking office. Volodymyr Zelenskyy arrived in Britain on Monday as the first international visitor of the new government [1].
The programme was substantive rather than ceremonial. A naval base visit, and a meeting with more than 200 Ukrainian personnel currently training in Britain under 'Sea Breeze,' a maritime security and counter-mine exercise [1].
Then the announcement that carries the most weight per word: the UK will share the intellectual property for 'Stone Cloak' electronic jammers, used against Russian air defences [1].
Sharing intellectual property is a different category of support from sending equipment. Equipment is consumed and has to be replaced; a design can be manufactured indefinitely by the recipient. It is the difference between giving someone a tool and giving them the ability to make the tool - and it is the kind of transfer governments usually resist, because it cannot be recalled.
Talks also covered a possible drone factory in Britain [1] - production capacity moving toward the supplying country rather than away from it.
The running total behind all of this: the UK has committed £25 billion to Ukraine since February 2022, of which £16 billion is military assistance. Ed Miliband has been named foreign secretary [1].
What today establishes is continuity where it was an open question. A change of government is the point at which a war's backers can quietly reprice their support. This one, in its first week, chose the opposite signal.
