Starmer was speaking at a press conference on the second day of the G20 summit. The FT‘s George Parker asked if he would condemn the arrests of 47 pro-democracy campaigners in Hong Kong today “in the strongest possible terms” or if he will “now have to bite your tongue as you’ve tried to forge this closer economic partnership with China.” Starmer chose option two…
“Well we want that close economic partnership and we know China is the second biggest economy in the world, and therefore I see that as an area where we can cooperate. But I do also think it’s right that where we have differences and a frank discussion about them as we did yesterday in relation to Hong Kong so I do think both of those things need to happen.”
The weakest possible terms, and not even a condemnation there…
Starmer has just met Chinese President Xi Jinping at the G20 summit in Rio de Janeiro, promising a “consistent, durable, respectful” relationship with the communist country. It’s the first time a UK Prime Minister has met with the leader since 2018. Lammy will be grinning from the sidelines…
Meanwhile, Starmer continues to drag his feet on whether he’ll follow in Biden’s footsteps to approve long-range missiles to strike Russian soil, with Downing Street telling hacks Starmer has “nothing to add” other than his existing comments to “continue to keep under review what we provide” to Ukraine. No wonder Xi looks pleased to see Starmer...
French newspaper Le Figaro reported last night that France and the UK had followed the US in greenlighting Ukraine’s use of Western-supplied long-range missiles to strike Russian soil. This morning the text has been changed to say the “debate is raging” on whether to do so…
In a bizarre move Starmer has chosen to brief and defend his decision to meet with Xi Jinping as he arrives in Rio for the G20 summit while refusing to provide an official response on Ukraine. Bridget Phillipson said on LBC an hour ago that Starmer and Healey will “continue to keep under review what we provide by way of military aid and support to the Ukrainian people.” Crickets from Downing Street on Ukraine while it happily briefs about the ‘China reset’ should sound alarm bells…
Former leader of the SNP in Westminster Ian Blackford told Times Radio why he believes Nicola Sturgeon’s claim that she spent no time in the kitchen and therefore didn’t see any of her husband’s purchases:
“She doesn’t have a passion for cooking.”