{"id":588722,"date":"2025-11-23T12:20:29","date_gmt":"2025-11-23T12:20:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/588722\/"},"modified":"2025-11-23T12:20:29","modified_gmt":"2025-11-23T12:20:29","slug":"sophie-huskisson-i-went-to-the-g20-with-keir-starmer-it-was-clear-one-thing-was-on-his-mind","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/588722\/","title":{"rendered":"SOPHIE HUSKISSON: \u2018I went to the G20 with Keir Starmer – it was clear one thing was on his mind\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Mirror’ Sophie Huskisson talks through her trip with Prime Minister Keir Starmer to the G20 summit in Johannesburg, South Africa, where one thing was on the PM’s mind<\/p>\n

07:43, 23 Nov 2025Updated 07:49, 23 Nov 2025<\/p>\n

\"KeirKeir Starmer has a big week back at home after a two-day G20 summit in South Africa(Image: POOL\/AFP via Getty Images)<\/p>\n

The sun was shining in South Africa as the red carpet was rolled out for Keir Starmer when he landed for the G20 summit.<\/p>\n

It felt a world away from the icy cold UK, where the PM has faced a troubling few weeks on the domestic front. So it felt fitting that the only times during the two-day trip that the heavens opened – with dramatic thunder and lightening – was as he took a break from the showmanship of the international stage to speak about home.<\/p>\n

As he sat down to do TV interviews, where he was to be grilled over next week\u2019s make-or-break Budget and a bitter briefing war over his leadership, the sun seemingly vanished. But the steely British PM reminded voters he has fought through tough times before and will do it again now.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou’ll remember when I took over the Labour Party, many people said you’ll never be able to change the Labour Party,\u201d he said, as rain lashed down on the roof above. \u201cThen the next thing they said when we changed the Labour Party\u2026 They said after the 2019 election result, you’ll never be able to win the next election. And we did.<\/p>\n

READ MORE: Keir Starmer to hold crunch G20 talks on Donald Trump’s Ukraine peace plan<\/a>\"KeirKeir Starmer welcomed by in South Africa for the G20 summit(Image: AP)<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd now people say, and they’re wrong about this, that it’s not possible to change the country for the better. I’m optimistic about the country. I know we can change it for the better and I’m determined that we will do so.\u201c<\/p>\n

It is that determination that drives the PM on, despite the bitter rows and unpopularity he has faced. And it is the story he will hope to tell on November 26, as he sits beside Rachel Reeves as she delivers her Autumn Budget.<\/p>\n

While the G20 summit was dominated by Ukraine – a crucial issue for security in Europe and at home – the Budget was clearly on the PM\u2019s mind as the summit kicked off. Mr Starmer privately admitted he has a \u201cbig week\u201d ahead – a chance to prove to Brits he will make their lives better.<\/p>\n

\"KeirKeir Starmer spoke with European leaders about Ukraine at the G20 summit(Image: Getty Images)<\/p>\n

But as the summit progressed, it became ever more difficult for home to remain at the top of the agenda. On Saturday – the second day of the visit- he had a busy day of crunch talks with G7 leaders ahead of releasing a joint statement rejecting part of Donald Trump\u2019s peace plans for Ukraine.<\/p>\n

He later spoke to Ukraine\u2019s Volodymyr Zelensky on the phone – and secured a call with Mr Trump. It was a display of his prowess on the international stage, where he has shone since becoming PM.<\/p>\n

But back home, the country will be waiting and watching for the curtain to be finally pulled back on the make-or-break Budget. For British families, it will be how he performs on the NHS, child poverty and cost of living that matters most to them.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Mirror’ Sophie Huskisson talks through her trip with Prime Minister Keir Starmer to the G20 summit in…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":588723,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[12,285,26],"class_list":{"0":"post-588722","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-world","8":"tag-news","9":"tag-politics","10":"tag-world"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/115598986657923280","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/588722","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=588722"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/588722\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/588723"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=588722"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=588722"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=588722"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}