Here is the ‘substantial’ material agreed during Starmer’s trip to China:
So the whisky deal was the only costed announcement. Basically Starmer will return from China holding the world’s smallest goldfish in a Safeways bag…
The India trade deal by the government’s estimation will boost trade by £25.5 billion per year. So Starmer’s trip has managed to secure 0.2% of the stated value of that deal this time round…
There could be more last-minute announcements to come – were there anything really big Downing Street would have partially briefed it already in a panic because hacks are dumping on Starmer’s give-everything-and-get-nothing trip. Even Reeves managed to get a pitiful £600 million when she travelled to China in January last year. Maybe the Chancellor should have been put on the trip after all…
In return the Chinese got a palatial spy hub. What else did Starmer give away…
Shadow national security minister Alicia Kearns told Times Radio she would have put a precondition on a China trip if she were PM:
“I would have put a precondition that I was not going to go if I was prime minister, unless Jimmy Lai was coming home with me. I would also put a precondition in the six months leading up to the visit that I wanted a reduction in hostile acts against our country. But that’s not what we saw. And actually, in contrast, what we saw was clearly the Chinese Communist Party did put a precondition, which was that the new embassy in London had to be signed off. So why is it okay for China to set preconditions and to make very clear red lines about what they require for a visit, but we go without having put any ourselves?”