Starmer arrives in Beijing
Keir Starmer has arrived in China on the first visit by a British Prime Minister in eight years, PA Media reports. PA says:
A delegation of almost 60 representatives of British businesses and cultural institutions is accompanying the prime minister as he continues his efforts to build bridges with Beijing.
But concerns over the risk China poses to national security and Xi Jinping’s record on human rights mean Starmer’s visit is politically sensitive.
Speaking to reporters on the flight to Beijing, the prime minister said: “The evidence there are opportunities is the fact that we’ve got so many CEOs with us on this flight, that we’ve got 60 coming out to explore those opportunities.”
Stamer added that this “reflects back at home in terms of the benefit that it brings back to the United Kingdom”.
The head of MI5 Sir Ken McCallum has warned that “Chinese state actors” present a national security threat to the UK “every day”.
Key events
Badenoch says PM should apologise for past work as lawyer pressing MoD to agree proper inquiries into Iraq abuse claims
Q: [From the Telegraph] The Telegraph is reporting today that Keir Starmer was a lead barrister on the case that ultimately led to the Ministry of Defence to order fresh inquiries into deaths in Iraq, triggering years of criminal investigations into soldiers who then wrongly accused. Do you think he should apologise for that?
Yes, says Badenoch. She says the way “veterans have been harassed through the courts is a complete disgrace”.
In his Telegraph story, Robert Mendick says:
The now-prime minister worked free of charge alongside his close ally, Lord Hermer, now the attorney general, and the now-disgraced solicitor Phil Shiner on a human rights claim in 2007 that reshaped the law governing troops in war zones.
Court documents unearthed by The Telegraph reveal Sir Keir was a lead barrister on the case, which ultimately led the Ministry of Defence to order fresh inquiries into deaths in Iraq. It triggered years of criminal investigations into soldiers who had been wrongly accused, at enormous cost to the taxpayer …
As part of the 2007 case, Sir Keir and Lord Hermer urged the courts to order a fresh inquiry into a British soldier who had already been cleared twice of murder over the death of an Iraqi man in 2003 (see extracts below), telling judges that earlier investigations had been “perfunctory” and “wholly inadequate”.
Badenoch confirms Tories still view Republicans in US as sister party, saying relationships are ‘great’
Q: Do still regard the Republicans in the US as a sister party?
Badenoch replies: “Yes, absolutely.” She says she has a great relationships with Republicans.
Badenoch says approving embassy application just before China trip makes Starmer look weak
Q: Would you be going to China if you were PM?
Badenoch says, if she were PM, she would not be going to China now.
She says Keir Starmer should be focusing more on countries aligned with the UK’s interests.
I think that that is what a prime minister should be talking about, and he needs to show strength, not approving a super-embassy, which many people think is going to become a spy hub. He looks like he gives way every time things get difficult. And that is the difference between Keir Starmer and myself.
Q: Can you guarantee that there will be no more defections?
Badenoch says she cannot guarantee that people won’t be unhappy. But she goes on to criticise the people who have left.
I was elected to renew and rebuild the Conservative party, and that is what I’m doing.
There is far too much time spent on who’s jumping from one party to another. A defection is not like being baptised and washed away of all your sins previously. We want people who acknowledge that mistakes were made. I acknowledge the Conservative party made mistakes.
Badenoch is now taking questions.
Asked if she agreed with Reform UK that Britain is broken, Badneoch said she believed that it can be fixed.
Badenoch says Tories defecting to Reform UK are like kids having a tantrum
Kemi Badenoch used her speech to accuse Tories who have defected to Reform UK of behaving like kids having a tantrum. She said:
I was not elected to reheat the party with 1990s policies, and I was not elected to dismantle the party so that Nigel Farage can finally have a go.
I was elected by Conservative party members to renew and rebuild. That is exactly what I am doing.
But we’re not just renewing with policy. We are also renewing with standards, conduct, discipline and our culture – and the people who don’t agree with this direction need to get out of the way.
There are people in politics who don’t really know what they are doing, or why? They just want to be in the room. They want to be on top. They want access, attention and advancement. And when they don’t get their way, they create drama …
To those who are defecting, who don’t actually disagree with our policies, I will say: I’m sorry you didn’t win the leadership contest. I’m sorry you didn’t get a job in the shadow cabinet. I’m sorry you didn’t get into the Lords, but you are not offering a plan to fix this country.
This is a tantrum dressed up as politics.
When my kids have a tantrum, I don’t give up or change my mind. I send them to their room. And I say to everyone else: if that tantrum ever found its way into government, we would all pay the price.
Kemi Badenoch is delivering her speech now. There is a live feed here.
Starmer says he’s ‘British pragmatist’, as he suggests he does not fully accept argument in Mark Carney’s Davos speech
At Davos last week there was wide consensus that the most significant speech was that given by Mark Carney, the Canadian PM. Donald Trump may have recieved more attention, but Carney was more coherent and profound. He argued that the world has changed, and that “middle powers” like Canada must accept that.
Here is our report of his speech.
Here is the full text. And here is an extract.
For decades, countries like Canada prospered under what we called the rules-based international order. We joined its institutions, we praised its principles, we benefited from its predictability. And because of that we could pursue values-based foreign policies under its protection.
We knew the story of the international rules-based order was partially false. That the strongest would exempt themselves when convenient. That trade rules were enforced asymmetrically. And we knew that international law applied with varying rigour depending on the identity of the accused or the victim.
This fiction was useful. And American hegemony, in particular, helped provide public goods: open sea lanes, a stable financial system, collective security and support for frameworks for resolving disputes …
We participated in the rituals. And we largely avoided calling out the gaps between rhetoric and reality.
This bargain no longer works.
Carney said that what was happening in the world was “a rupture, not a transition”. And he said that said “middle powers” had to “act together because if we’re not at the table, we’re on the menu”.
Keir Starmer was asked about this when he spoke to reporters on his flight to China. Asked if he agreed with Carney, he implied that he did not fully accept his argument. He told reporters:
I’m a pragmatist, a British pragmatist applying common sense.
I’m pleased that we have a good relationship with the US on defence, security, intelligence and on trade and prosperity, and it’s very important that we maintain that good relationship.
Equally, we are moving forward with a better relationship with the EU. We had a very good summit last year with 10 strands of agreement.
We’ll have another summit this year with the EU, which I hope will be iterative, as well as following through on what we’ve already agreed. And I’ve consistently said I’m not choosing between the US and Europe. I’m really glad that the UK has got good relations with both.
Starmer arrives in Beijing
Keir Starmer has arrived in China on the first visit by a British Prime Minister in eight years, PA Media reports. PA says:
A delegation of almost 60 representatives of British businesses and cultural institutions is accompanying the prime minister as he continues his efforts to build bridges with Beijing.
But concerns over the risk China poses to national security and Xi Jinping’s record on human rights mean Starmer’s visit is politically sensitive.
Speaking to reporters on the flight to Beijing, the prime minister said: “The evidence there are opportunities is the fact that we’ve got so many CEOs with us on this flight, that we’ve got 60 coming out to explore those opportunities.”
Stamer added that this “reflects back at home in terms of the benefit that it brings back to the United Kingdom”.
The head of MI5 Sir Ken McCallum has warned that “Chinese state actors” present a national security threat to the UK “every day”.
Badenoch accuses Reform UK of ‘leftwing fantasy’ politics, and says Tories have ‘moved to right every day’ under her leadership
In her speech this morning Kemi Badenoch will also accuse Reform UK of promoting “leftwing fantasy” politics.
According to extracts released in advance, she will say:
Labour believe the answer is more state control.
Reform believe the same thing, they just want their hands on the levers instead.
The Conservatives don’t believe in more control. We believe in you.
We will do our job and get out of the way so that you can do yours.
We’ve done the work and committed to leave the ECHR, so that we can finally deal with illegal immigration.
We’ve done the work and said we’ll repeal the Climate Change Act, so we can bring down energy bills and stop deindustrialising.
We’ve done the work and have a fully funded plan to scrap stamp duty, so we can unglue our housing market and make owning a home a reality again for young people.
We’ve done the work and set out plans to save £23bn from welfare, so we can pay down the deficit, cut taxes and get Britain working again.
My Conservative party has moved to the right every day since I became leader.
What have Reform done in that time?
An unfunded plan to scrap the two-child benefit cap …
An unworkable plan to nationalise British steel.
This is leftwing fantasy.
The Conservatives are proudly the party of the right. The only party of the right.
Keir Starmer has landed in Beijing.
‘It’s not 2016 any more’ – Badenoch criticises group pushing moderate Conservatism in speech denouncing ‘psychodrama’
Kemi Badenoch is going to give a speech today denouncing the “PSYCHODRAMA” of Labour and Reform UK. The all-caps emphasis is from the preview text sent out by CCHQ overnight. It sounds like a personal Badenoch touch – as well as being reminiscent of the tone Donald Trump adopts in his social media output.
Here is the key extract.
At a time when Nato has been under threat.
At a time when Conservatives were simultaneously working day and night in parliament to find ways to stop the government surrendering British territory in the Chagos Islands, and piling the pressure on Labour to save Britain’s pubs…
What were the other parties doing?
PSYCHODRAMA!
The Labour party … scheming to get a new leadership contender to Westminster to challenge Keir Starmer.
Meanwhile, Reform UK dressed up a defection rally as a veterans event. Shameful.
Neither are serious and the public are thoroughly fed up with this style of politics.
So who is going to fix this country’s problems?
Is it the people who are knuckling down day in, day out, holding the government to account for its many failings …
Or is it the party who only call a press conference when they are announcing another defection?
Critics will say that the Tories have not been holding back themselves when it comes to supplying the Westminster demand for psychodrama. After Suella Braverman defected to Reform UK, Tory HQ even issued a statement (which they later retracted) speculating about the psychological health of their former MP. The party said it had been sent out in error, but Braverman said it had echoes of something Badenoch herself had said about her in the past.
And, while claiming that the Conservatives are the only party “serious” about policy, Badenoch is also going to use her speech for a bit of internal faction-fighting – blasting Prosper, the new group launched by Ruth Davidson and Andy Street arguing for “moderate” Conservatism.
In the extract sent out overnight, Badenoch does not name Prosper. But she clearly refers to them, saying:
There’s another group of people who seem to think that if we just pretend that nothing bad is happening, everything is going to be OK …
… as long as we say nice things and don’t mention immigration.
This is my message to them.
We’re about the future, not the past.
We’re not trying to recreate 2006 and it’s not 2016 any more.
We aren’t refighting those battles. It’s 2026 and the world has changed.
This is about the future. I am building a Conservative party for the next decade and the next generation.
Only Labour can beat Reform in Gorton and Denton byelection, Starmer claims
Good morning. Keir Starmer will be landing in China shortly, and he has been speaking to journalists on his flight over. As usual when a PM travels abroad, while they may want to focus on foreign issues, domestic politics never gets forgotten.
As Pippa Crerar reports, Starmer was asked about the Gorton and Denton byelection, where yesterday Reform UK named a GB News presenter and hard-right commentator, Matt Goodwin, as its candidate. Starmer claimed only Labour could beat Reform in the constituency. He said:
There’s only one party to stop Reform and that’s the Labour party. We can already see what the bybelection is going to be about, which is Labour values which are about delivering on the cost of living with a strong record in that constituency of what we’ve already done versus Reform.
You can see from their candidate what politics they’re going to bring to that constituency: the politics of division, of toxic division, of tearing people apart. That’s not what that constituency is about, it’s not what Manchester is about, so this is a straight fight between Labour and Reform.
The Greens won’t agree with that. And the bookmakers don’t either.
As Pippa reports, Starmer also said that he would “raise the issues that need to be raised” on human rights with China’s leader, Xi Jinping, when they meet tomorrow.
Here is the agenda for the day.
Around 9.30am (UK time): Keir Starmer arrives in Beijing. He will be giving a speech to a business delegation (around 11.45am UK time).
10am: Kemi Badenoch gives a speech criticising the the ‘psychodrama’ of both Reform UK and Labour.
Noon: David Lammy, the deputy PM, takes PMQs on behalf of Starmer.
1.30pm: John Swinney, Scotland’s first minister, gives a speech in Edinburgh on international affairs.
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