Starmer arrives in Beijing
keir starmer Has arrived in China on the first visit by a British Prime Minister in eight years, according to PA media reports. PA says:
A delegation of around 60 representatives from British businesses and cultural institutions is accompanying the Prime Minister as he continues his efforts to build bridges with Beijing.
But concerns over the national security threat China poses 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: “Proof that the opportunities are there is the fact that we have so many CEOs with us on this flight, that we have 60 people coming to explore those opportunities.”
Stammers said this is “reflected domestically in terms of profits coming back into the United Kingdom”.
MI5 chief Sir Ken McCallum has warned that “Chinese state actors” pose a national security threat to Britain “every day”.
Badenoch accused Reform UK of ‘left-wing fantasy’ politics and said the Tories have ‘moved to the right every day’ under his leadership.
in his speech this morning Kemi Badenoch Reform UK would also be accused of promoting “left-wing fantasy” politics.
According to previously released quotes, she will say:
Labor believes the answer is more state control.
Reforms believe in one thing, that’s all they want their Instead keep your hand on the lever.
Conservatives do not believe in much control. We believe in you.
We’ll do our job and get out of the way so you can do yours.
We have done the work and are committed to leaving the ECHR, so we can finally tackle illegal immigration.
We have acted and said we will repeal the Climate Change Act, so we can lower energy bills and stop deindustrialization.
We have done the work and we have a fully funded plan to abolish stamp duty, so we can decarbonise our housing market and make home buying a reality again for young people.
We have acted and plan to save £23 billion from welfare, so we can close the deficit, cut taxes and get Britain back to work.
My Conservative Party has moved to the right every day since I became leader.
What has the Reformation done in that time?
An unachieved plan to scrap the two-child benefit cap…
An impractical plan to nationalize British Steel.
This is leftist fantasy.
The Conservatives are proud to be the party of the right. The only party of authority.
keir starmer Has landed in Beijing.
‘It’s not 2016 anymore’ – Badenoch criticizes group promoting libertarian conservatism in speech denouncing ‘psychodrama’
Kemi Badenoch Today Labor and Reform are to deliver a speech condemning the UK’s “psychodrama”. Emphasis in all capital letters is from the preview text sent overnight by CCHQ. It feels like a personal Badenoch touch – as well as reminiscent of the tone adopted by Donald Trump in his social media output.
Here are the highlights.
At a time when NATO is in danger.
At a time when the Conservatives were working day and night in Parliament to find ways to stop the government surrendering the British territory in the Chagos Islands, and increasing pressure on Labor to save Britain’s pubs…
What were the other parties doing?
Psychoanalysis!
The Labor Party… is planning to field a new leadership contender to Westminster to challenge Keir Starmer.
Meanwhile, Reform UK framed the defection rally as a veterans’ event. Shameful.
Both are not serious and the public is completely fed up with this style of politics.
So who will fix this country’s problems?
Are these the people who are holding people responsible for the many failures of the government day after day…
Or is it the party that calls press conferences only when they are announcing another defection?
Critics will say the Tories are not holding themselves back when it comes to supplying Westminster’s demand for psychodrama. After Suella Braverman moved to Reform UK, Tory headquarters also issued a statement (which they later retracted) speculating about the psychological health of their former MP. The party said it was sent in error, but Braverman said it echoed something Badenoch himself had said about him 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 some internal faction-fighting – criticizing the new group Prosper, launched by Ruth Davidson and Andy Street, arguing for “moderate” conservatism.
In the quote sent overnight, Badenoch does not mention Prosper by name. But she clearly mentions them, saying:
There is another group of people who think that if we just pretend that nothing bad is happening, everything will be fine…
…as long as we say nice things and don’t mention immigration.
this is my message Them.
We are about the future, not the past.
We’re not trying to recreate 2006 and it’s not 2016 anymore.
We are not fighting those battles again. It’s 2026 and the world has changed.
It’s about the future. I am building a Conservative Party for the next decade and the next generation.
Starmer claims only Labor can defeat Reform in Gorton and Denton by-election
Good morning. keir starmer He will soon land in China and is talking to journalists during his flight. As usual when a Prime Minister travels abroad, he wants to focus on foreign issues, but never forgets domestic politics.
As Pippa Crerar According to reports, Starmer was asked about the Gorton and Denton by-election, where Reform UK yesterday named GB News presenter and far-right commentator, Matt Goodwin, as its candidate. Starmer Claims were made that only Labor could defeat Reform in the constituency. He said:
There is only one party that can stop reform and that is the Labor Party. We can already see what the by-election is going to be about, which is about Labor values meeting the cost of living with a strong record in that constituency versus the reforms we have already done.
You can see from their candidate what politics they are going to bring to that constituency: politics of division, toxic division, politics of breaking people. This is not what the constituency is about, this is not what Manchester is about, so it is a straight fight between Labor and Reform.
The Greens will not agree with this. And bookies don’t do this either.
As Pippa reports, Starmer also said she would “raise the issues that need to be raised” on human rights when she meets with China’s leader Xi Jinping tomorrow.
Here is the agenda for the day.
Around 9.30pm (UK time): Keir Starmer arrives in Beijing. He will deliver a speech to a business delegation (about 11.45am UK time).
10 am: Kemi Badenoch gives a speech criticizing the ‘psychodrama’ of both Reform UK and Labour.
Afternoon: David Lammy, deputy PM, takes PMQs on Starmer’s behalf.
1.30 pm: Scotland’s First Minister John Swinney gives a speech in Edinburgh on international affairs.
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