{"id":606281,"date":"2025-12-02T00:17:21","date_gmt":"2025-12-02T00:17:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/606281\/"},"modified":"2025-12-02T00:17:21","modified_gmt":"2025-12-02T00:17:21","slug":"britain-must-not-shrink-back-from-chaotic-world-says-starmer","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/606281\/","title":{"rendered":"Britain must not shrink back from \u2018chaotic world\u2019, says Starmer"},"content":{"rendered":"

In his annual Guildhall speech on foreign policy, the Prime Minister accused opposition politicians of offering a \u201ccorrosive, inward-looking attitude\u201d on international affairs.<\/p>\n

Taking aim at those who advocate leaving the European Convention on Human Rights or Nato, he said they offered \u201cgrievance rather than hope\u201d and \u201ca declinist vision of a lesser Britain\u201d.<\/p>\n

\"PrimeSir Keir addressed the UK\u2019s international positioning during the speech (Stefan Rousseau\/PA)<\/p>\n

Sir Keir said: \u201cMoreover, it is a fatal misreading of the moment, ducking the fundamental challenge posed by a chaotic world \u2013 a world which is more dangerous and unstable than at any point for a generation, where international events reach directly into our lives, whether we like it or not.\u201d<\/p>\n

He added: \u201cIn these times, we deliver for Britain by looking outward with renewed purpose and pride, not by shrinking back. In these times, internationalism is patriotism.\u201d<\/p>\n

Since coming to power last year, Sir Keir has been active on the world stage, trumpeting deals with the US, India and the EU and leading the \u201ccoalition of the willing\u201d in support of Ukraine.<\/p>\n

\"(leftSir Keir, left, pictured with French President Emmanuel Macron, centre, and Germany\u2019s Chancellor Friedrich Merz at the G20 last month, has been criticised for the amount of time he has spent on the international stage (PA)<\/p>\n

But he has also faced criticism from his opponents, who accuse him of spending too much time out of the country attending international summits rather than focusing on domestic issues.<\/p>\n

Speaking in the City of London on Monday evening, the Prime Minister offered a defence of his approach, describing it as \u201cthe biggest shift in British foreign policy since Brexit\u201d and \u201ca decisive move to face outward again\u201d.<\/p>\n

While saying he would \u201calways respect\u201d the Brexit vote as a \u201cfair, democratic expression\u201d, he said the way the UK\u2019s departure from the EU had been \u201csold and delivered\u201d was \u201csimply wrong\u201d.<\/p>\n

\"SirSir Keir Starmer and Lady Mayor of London Dame Susan Langley (left) in the banquet procession during the annual Lady Mayor\u2019s Banquet at the Guildhall in central London (Stefan Rousseau\/PA)<\/p>\n

He said: \u201cWild promises were made to the British people and not fulfilled. We are still dealing with the consequences today.\u201d<\/p>\n

And he defended his Government\u2019s thaw in relations with China, rejecting a \u201cbinary choice\u201d between the \u201cgolden age\u201d of engagement under David Cameron and the \u201cice age\u201d under more recent Conservative prime ministers.<\/p>\n

Arguing that failing to engage with China was \u201ca dereliction of duty\u201d, he said: \u201cThis is not a question of balancing economic and security considerations. We don\u2019t trade off security in one area, for a bit more economic access somewhere else.<\/p>\n

\"PrimePrime Minister Sir Keir Starmer (centre) with Lady Mayor of London Dame Susan Langley (centre left) with Mayoral Consort Gary Langley (centre right) attending the annual Lady Mayor\u2019s Banquet (Stefan Rousseau\/PA)<\/p>\n

\u201cProtecting our security is non-negotiable \u2013 our first duty. But by taking tough steps to keep us secure, we enable ourselves to co-operate in other areas.\u201d<\/p>\n

Earlier in the year, the collapse of the trial of two alleged Chinese spies triggered a row over whether the Government had deliberately undermined the case to preserve relations with China \u2013 a claim ministers firmly rejected.<\/p>\n

In his speech on Monday, Sir Keir said China posed \u201cnational security threats to the UK\u201d.<\/p>\n

\"SirSir Keir (centre) with Speaker of the House of Commons Sir Lindsay Hoyle (right) during the banquet (Stefan Rousseau\/PA)<\/p>\n

But he also described the country as \u201ca defining force in technology, trade and global governance\u201d and said Britain needed a China policy \u201cthat recognises this reality\u201d.<\/p>\n

He said: \u201cWe\u2019re absolutely clear that when it comes, for example, to defence, AI or our critical national infrastructure, we will always protect our security and our economic interests.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut we\u2019re also clear that in areas where there is no significant risk, we are going to give businesses the confidence, clarity and support they need to win these opportunities, with all the necessary mitigations in place.\u201d<\/p>\n

Commenting on the speech, Conservative shadow foreign secretary Dame Priti Patel said Sir Keir had become \u201cBeijing\u2019s useful idiot in Britain\u201d.<\/p>\n

She said: \u201cFrom China\u2019s continued flouting of economic rules to transnational repression of Hong Kongers in Britain, Stamer\u2019s \u2018reset\u2019 with Beijing is a naive one-way street, which puts Britain at risk while Beijing gets everything it wants.<\/p>\n

\u201cStarmer continues to kowtow to China and is captivated by half-baked promises of trade. Coming just days after the latest Chinese plot to interfere in our democracy was exposed, his love letter to the Chinese Communist Party is a desperate ploy to generate economic growth following his Budget of lies and is completely ill-judged.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"In his annual Guildhall speech on foreign policy, the Prime Minister accused opposition politicians of offering a \u201ccorrosive,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":606282,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5018,3,4],"tags":[748,393,4884,1144,712,16,15,1764],"class_list":{"0":"post-606281","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-britain","8":"category-uk","9":"category-united-kingdom","10":"tag-britain","11":"tag-england","12":"tag-great-britain","13":"tag-northern-ireland","14":"tag-scotland","15":"tag-uk","16":"tag-united-kingdom","17":"tag-wales"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/115647103531684429","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/606281","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=606281"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/606281\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/606282"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=606281"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=606281"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=606281"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}