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Tag: Keir Starmer

  • Riyadh to Invest in Green Projects 

    Riyadh to Invest in Green Projects 

    Prime Minister Keir Starmer Secures Major Investments in Green Energy To Support UK Jobs…reports Asian Lite News

    Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer arrived in Saudi Arabia today following high-level meetings in the UAE. During his visit, the Prime Minister emphasised strengthening ties with Gulf partners to deliver tangible benefits for working people across the UK. 

    Starmer highlighted immediate gains for the North of England, including a transformative partnership between Manchester-based Graphene Innovation Manchester (GIM) and Saudi Arabia’s NEOM Giga-Project. The collaboration will launch the world’s first commercial production of graphene-enriched carbon fibre, an eco-friendly material that aims to revolutionise advanced manufacturing. 

    The £250 million investment in a research and innovation hub in Greater Manchester is expected to create over 1,000 skilled jobs, cementing the region’s role as a global leader in sustainable materials. 

    Speaking in Riyadh, the Prime Minister stressed his commitment to linking international partnerships with local regeneration: 

    “Every region and nation in the United Kingdom should feel the impact of our Plan for Change. My international agenda starts at home, ensuring that diplomacy delivers real jobs, growth, and opportunities for people across the UK.” 

    The visit also marked significant strides in the UK-Saudi green energy partnership. Oxford-based private equity fund HYCAP has pledged £785 million to develop hydrogen mobility clusters across the UK, including Northern Ireland, creating over 1,000 jobs and supporting Saudi Arabia’s net-zero ambitions by 2060. 

    Prime Minister Keir Starmer and his accompanying delegation arrived at King Khalid International Airport on Monday night. He was received by Deputy Governor of Riyadh Region Prince Mohammed bin Abdulrahman bin Abdulaziz, Saudi Ambassador to the UK Prince Khalid bin Bandar bin Sultan bin Abdulaziz, Minister of Commerce Dr. Majid Al-Kassabi (the accompanying minister), Mayor of Riyadh Region Prince Dr. Faisal bin Abdulaziz bin Ayyaf, Ambassador of the UK to Saudi Arabia Neil Crompton, Acting Director of the Riyadh Region Police Major General Mansour bin Nasser Al-Otaibi, and Deputy Chief of Royal Protocol Fahad Al-Suhail.

    Additionally, the UK and Saudi Arabia announced plans to establish a Joint International Institute for Clean Hydrogen. This collaboration, led by universities from both nations, including Newcastle University, will advance clean energy expertise and innovation. North East Mayor Kim McGuinness is accompanying the Prime Minister to secure further green energy investments. 

    Energy Secretary Ed Miliband praised the agreements: “These investments in clean energy demonstrate how our Plan for Change can create new jobs, boost energy independence, and position the UK as a global clean energy superpower.” 

    Other notable agreements include: 

    • A partnership between UK-based cleantech leader Carbon Clean and Saudi firm Aramco to advance carbon capture technologies, projected to generate 2,000 UK jobs. 

    • A £200 million investment over five years by Next Generation SCM and Saudi Arabia’s City Cement Company to produce sustainable concrete, supporting 200 jobs. 

    • A £41 million Saudi investment in regenerating Brunswick Mill in Greater Manchester, providing 277 flats and commercial outlets, aligned with the Prime Minister’s goal to build 1.5 million homes. 

    ALSO READ: Starmer Seeks Saudi Funds

    ALSO READ: Starmer in Arabia

  • ‘No plan for more tax rises’ 

    ‘No plan for more tax rises’ 

     

    Starmer said he knew some decisions were “not always popular” but voters could judge him at the next general election on whether they feel their living standards have improved…reports Asian Lite News

    Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer has told the BBC it is not his “plan” to have any more tax rises before the next election – but says he could not rule them out in the event of “unforeseen” circumstances. 

    The prime minister speaking shortly after setting out six pledges, including a promise to put more money in the pockets of working people. 

    Starmer said he knew some decisions were “not always popular” but voters could judge him at the next general election on whether they feel their living standards have improved. Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch dismissed the PM’s new pledges as a sign that Labour had not been “ready for government”. 

    In addition to improving living standards, the other “milestones” announced by Starmer in a speech on Thursday included building 1.5 million new homes in England, ending hospital backlogs and increasing the proportion of children who are “ready to learn” when starting school to 75%. 

    Labour has dismissed suggestions the new pledges are a reset following their first few months in government. 

    The chancellor announced a near-£70bn increase in public spending in her first Budget in October, of which more than half will come from higher taxes, with businesses set to bear the brunt of the rises. 

    Employers will see an increase in National Insurance contributions on their workers’ earnings which will raise up to £25bn a year for the government. And there will also be an increase to capital gains tax on share sales and a freeze on inheritance tax thresholds. 

    On the possibility of further tax rises, the prime minister said: “I don’t want to suggest we’re going to keep coming back for more because that isn’t the plan. What I can’t do, is say to you there are no circumstances unforeseen in the future that wouldn’t lead to any change at all. If you look at Covid and Ukraine, everyone knows there are things we can’t see now but I can tell you our intention was to do the tough stuff in that Budget, not keep coming back.” 

    Asked why he thought his popularity had fallen since the election, Starmer said he had chosen to take the “tough decisions” early on in his premiership. He said he knew the decisions would not always be popular but were needed “to turn the country around”. 

    “I just don’t want to do what politicians have done in the past which is to get in the warm bath of empty promises. I’m prepared to roll up my sleeves and tell people its tough – we’re going to do it but you’re going to be better off. You’ll have a better health service, you’ll have better houses, you’ll have better energy bills at the end of this and I’ll be judged, quite rightly, at the end of the parliamentary term whether I’ve delivered on what I said I would deliver on.” 

    In answer to a question about when people would feel better off, Sir Keir said that would be measured at the end of the Parliament but that he wanted people to “feel better off straight away”. 

    He added that a pay rise for those on the lowest wages meant three million people were already better off as a result of the government’s actions. 

    Following Starmer’s speech on Thursday, the Conservative leader said: “The prime minister’s emergency reset confirms that Labour had 14 years in opposition and still weren’t ready for government. 

    “Nothing concrete on immigration – because Labour have no plan to control numbers.” 

    The prime minister has said he wants to reduce migration levels but his six pledges did not include a measurable target. Starmer said that trying to put a “hard cap” on migration numbers hadn’t worked in the past. 

    Liberal Democrat leader Ed Davey said his party would “hold this government’s feet to the fire on keeping its promises, most of all on fixing the NHS and care. “It was worrying to see no clear plan in these targets to make sure people can see a GP when they need to.” 

    Meanwhile, the Confederation for British Industry has said that household incomes will be held back by budget tax increases in a blow to Starmer’s new goal of “raising living standards in every part of the UK.”  

    Starmer introduced the living standards target in a speech on Thursday, shifting the focus off his election manifesto pledge to deliver the highest sustained growth in the Group of Seven during Labour’s first term in government. 

    However, the CBI warned in forecasts published Friday that the “budget measures will weigh on household spending, due to weaker incomes growth.” The employers’ group added that a trade war with the US under Donald Trump posed only a small threat to the UK. 

    Chancellor Rachel Reeves raised taxes by £40 billion ($51 billion) a year and borrowed an extra £30 billion, which she said “wiped the slate clean” after years of Conservative rule by providing the funds to fix ailing public services and invest in essential infrastructure. But she faces a backlash from business, which bears the bulk of the tax rise. 

    ALSO READ: Saltmarsh being restored in Devon 

  • ‘No plan for more tax rises’ 

    ‘No plan for more tax rises’ 

    Starmer said he knew some decisions were “not always popular” but voters could judge him at the next general election on whether they feel their living standards have improved…reports Asian Lite News

    Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer has told the BBC it is not his “plan” to have any more tax rises before the next election – but says he could not rule them out in the event of “unforeseen” circumstances. 

    The prime minister speaking shortly after setting out six pledges, including a promise to put more money in the pockets of working people. 

    Starmer said he knew some decisions were “not always popular” but voters could judge him at the next general election on whether they feel their living standards have improved. Conservative leader Kemi Badenoch dismissed the PM’s new pledges as a sign that Labour had not been “ready for government”. 

    In addition to improving living standards, the other “milestones” announced by Starmer in a speech on Thursday included building 1.5 million new homes in England, ending hospital backlogs and increasing the proportion of children who are “ready to learn” when starting school to 75%. 

    Labour has dismissed suggestions the new pledges are a reset following their first few months in government. 

    The chancellor announced a near-£70bn increase in public spending in her first Budget in October, of which more than half will come from higher taxes, with businesses set to bear the brunt of the rises. 

    Employers will see an increase in National Insurance contributions on their workers’ earnings which will raise up to £25bn a year for the government. And there will also be an increase to capital gains tax on share sales and a freeze on inheritance tax thresholds. 

    On the possibility of further tax rises, the prime minister said: “I don’t want to suggest we’re going to keep coming back for more because that isn’t the plan. What I can’t do, is say to you there are no circumstances unforeseen in the future that wouldn’t lead to any change at all. If you look at Covid and Ukraine, everyone knows there are things we can’t see now but I can tell you our intention was to do the tough stuff in that Budget, not keep coming back.” 

    Asked why he thought his popularity had fallen since the election, Starmer said he had chosen to take the “tough decisions” early on in his premiership. He said he knew the decisions would not always be popular but were needed “to turn the country around”. 

    “I just don’t want to do what politicians have done in the past which is to get in the warm bath of empty promises. I’m prepared to roll up my sleeves and tell people its tough – we’re going to do it but you’re going to be better off. You’ll have a better health service, you’ll have better houses, you’ll have better energy bills at the end of this and I’ll be judged, quite rightly, at the end of the parliamentary term whether I’ve delivered on what I said I would deliver on.” 

    In answer to a question about when people would feel better off, Sir Keir said that would be measured at the end of the Parliament but that he wanted people to “feel better off straight away”. 

    He added that a pay rise for those on the lowest wages meant three million people were already better off as a result of the government’s actions. 

    Following Starmer’s speech on Thursday, the Conservative leader said: “The prime minister’s emergency reset confirms that Labour had 14 years in opposition and still weren’t ready for government. 

    “Nothing concrete on immigration – because Labour have no plan to control numbers.” 

    The prime minister has said he wants to reduce migration levels but his six pledges did not include a measurable target. Starmer said that trying to put a “hard cap” on migration numbers hadn’t worked in the past. 

    Liberal Democrat leader Ed Davey said his party would “hold this government’s feet to the fire on keeping its promises, most of all on fixing the NHS and care. “It was worrying to see no clear plan in these targets to make sure people can see a GP when they need to.” 

    Meanwhile, the Confederation for British Industry has said that household incomes will be held back by budget tax increases in a blow to Starmer’s new goal of “raising living standards in every part of the UK.”  

    Starmer introduced the living standards target in a speech on Thursday, shifting the focus off his election manifesto pledge to deliver the highest sustained growth in the Group of Seven during Labour’s first term in government. 

    However, the CBI warned in forecasts published Friday that the “budget measures will weigh on household spending, due to weaker incomes growth.” The employers’ group added that a trade war with the US under Donald Trump posed only a small threat to the UK. 

    Chancellor Rachel Reeves raised taxes by £40 billion ($51 billion) a year and borrowed an extra £30 billion, which she said “wiped the slate clean” after years of Conservative rule by providing the funds to fix ailing public services and invest in essential infrastructure. But she faces a backlash from business, which bears the bulk of the tax rise. 

    ALSO READ: Starmer appoints Wormald as new cabinet secy  

    ALSO READ: Starmer to restart UK-India FTA talks 

  • Britain’s Foreign Problem

    Britain’s Foreign Problem

    Since the war Britain, aware that America had displaced Britain as the supreme power, has tried to hold on to some semblance of still being influential in world affairs by making much of its “special relationship” with America. With Trump in power all this means is that Nigel Farage, a backbench MP, has a special relationship with Trump… writes Mihir Bose

    Dean Acheson, Secretary of State under President Harry Truman, famously said Britian has lost an empire but not found a role. They were made just after India won freedom but while they riled Britain then, and still does, they remain relevant. Keir Starmer may have come to power saying he would reset Britain’s foreign relations, but he has given no indication that he has found the switch, let alone move the dial.

    This was vividly demonstrated during the G 20 summit in Brazil. To begin with look how the world sees Britain. Just before the summit the environmentalist campaigners circulated a mock up photograph of the heads of different world leaders bobbing just above the surface of a hostile sea indicating their inability to deal with the climate crisis. The heads featured the leaders of America, Russia, China, France, and India but no head of Starmer. Nothing better illustrates that, despite all that British politicians claim, it just does not cut the mustard on the world stage.

    Since the war Britain, aware that America had displaced Britain as the supreme power, has tried to hold on to some semblance of still being influential in world affairs by making much of its “special relationship” with America. With Trump in power all this means is that Nigel Farage, a backbench MP, has a special relationship with Trump.

    The other British claim is that it punches above its weight. Whenever I hear that I always think of the minnows who play in the FA Cup and manage to beat a top team and then preen themselves as giant killers. They get a few sport media headlines, but they change nothing. This is what Britain does on the world stage.

    Nothing demonstrates this further than Starmer’s attempt to reset relationship with China and India.

    Take China. It now seems another century when David Cameron had a beer with Xi Jinping in a pub in his constituency. Now we are told Chinese spies are everywhere. It is taking over countries in Asia and Africa creating a new Chinese empire and its cheap goods flooding western countries are destroying industry in these countries. We know Trump will impose huge tariffs on imports to America which could unleash a dreadful trade war.

    So, what is Sir Keir Starmer’s response? A handshake with Xi Jinping on the sidelines of the G20 in Brazil with much being made of this being  the first such meeting between the British and Chinese leaders since 2018. Rachel Reeves will follow up with a visit to China all part of what Starmer calls a “strong UK-China relationship”.  But what will it mean? Will Starmer ask Xi Jinping to remove the secret devises the Chinese are supposed to have put in our  fridges to record what we are saying as we get a carton of milk from the fridge?

    The fact is Britain needs China more than China needs Britain. The media may talk of Chinese students coming to this country being spies but cut their numbers and you further decrease the income of British universities which are already hard pressed. All that will do is increase student fees which can hardly help Labour’s chances of holding on to power.

    What Britain needs is to understand that the China of Xi Jinping has a completely different worldview, both domestically and in foreign affairs, to Deng Xiaoping, the Chinese leader the west fell in love with. This has been very well analysed by the former Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd who knows China and can speak Chinese. Rudd says that China’s economic thinking has moved to the left in a decisively more statist direction away from the historical dynamism of the private sector and Xi has a much harder edged foreign policy vision of China and a new determination to change the international status quo. This worldview is an integrated one where his ideological vision for China’s future is ultimately inseparable from his view on China’s position in the region and the world. For Xi “struggle” is a legitimate concept for the conduct of both Chinese domestic and foreign policy.

    I would urge Sir Keir Starmer, or at least some of his advisors, to read Kevin Rudd’s On Xi Jinping, published by the Oxford University Press. Maybe Lord Ali could give this to him as a Christmas present. He could certainly afford the price of £26.99.

    The G20 in Brazil also saw Starmer shake hands with Narendra Modi, the India Prime Minister and much was made of a new trade deal. Talks on a trade deal have been going on since Brexit and they have got nowhere because Britain will not give India what it wants. More opportunities for Indian students to come here. I wonder if after the handshake Starmer is offering Modi a Diwali present promising him that. If he did then it will not please Kemi Badenoch, the Tory leader who, when Business and Trade Secretary, ruled it out because it would increase migration.

    India, of course, presents a very different problem to Labour compared to China. Britain is no longer the country Indian leaders look to when they look abroad. Britain was one of the last countries Modi visited when he became Prime Minister. Also, the hold on Indian voters which Labour, on the basis it had given India freedom, had, has gone. During the last two elections a majority of Hindus voted for the Conservatives. The Gaza crisis has meant there were also defections from Muslims, although not to Conservatives but other parties creating some major upsets in Labour strongholds. Labour no longer has a major politician who can claim to have close connections with Indian leaders.

    Starmer and Modi would never be bhai-bhai, brother-brother in the way say Modi is with Netanyahu and has tried, with some success, to be with Trump, even though he such a mercurial politician that one day a bhai, next day he could be dushman, enemy. Against such a background trade talks are unlikely to succeed. This could prove to another Starmer reset which is more words than action. Labour, as Acheson said, would still be left searching a role.

    (Mihir Bose is the author of Thank You Mr Crombie Lessons in Guilt and Gratitude to the British.)

    ALSO READ: Reeves may wait until June to announce Whitehall budget details 

  • Starmer to restart UK-India FTA talks 

    Starmer to restart UK-India FTA talks 

    PM uses Brazil trip for the G20 Summit to strengthen ties with the world’s leading economic powers to drive growth and deliver for the British people…reports Asian Lite News 

    Prime Minister Keir Starmer has announced that trade talks with India would be relaunched in the new year, following a bilateral meeting with his Indian counterpart Narendra Modi on the sidelines of the G20 Summit in Brazil. 

    “Boosting economic growth is key to improving living standards for working people. A new trade deal with India will support jobs and prosperity in the UK and represent a step forward in our mission to deliver growth and opportunity across our country,” said Starmer. 

    Starmer met the Indian prime minister, Narendra Modi, at the G20 summit in Brazil where he spoke of his hopes of finally clinching a trade deal. “Boosting economic growth is key to improving living standards for working people,” he said. 

    india,UK flag.

    “A new trade deal with India will support jobs and prosperity in the UK – and represent a step forward in our mission to deliver growth and opportunity across our country.” 

    At their bilateral, Starmer said he wanted to take Britain’s relationship with India to “another level” and said he was “very ambitious” in terms of furthering ties “on trade, on energy and on so many issues, including security.” 

    Modi congratulated Starmer on winning “such a large mandate” at the July election.  

    Following Starmer and Modi’s meeting, Downing Street said the UK would seek a new strategic partnership with India, including a trade agreement as well as deepening cooperation in areas such as security, education, technology and climate change. 

    Starmer’s spokesperson said the UK was committed to negotiating a trade deal with India, one of the fastest-growing economies in the world. “A new trade deal with India will support jobs and prosperity in the UK and represent a step forward in our mission to deliver growth and opportunity across our country,” a statement released by 10, Downing Street, quoted Starmer as saying after the bilateral meeting. Modi took to social media to describe the exchange as “extremely productive.”  

    “For India, the Comprehensive Strategic Partnership with the UK is of immense priority. In the coming years, we are eager to work closely in areas such as technology, green energy, security, innovation and technology,” Modi said in a post on X. 

    “We also want to add strength to trade as well as cultural linkages,” he added. 

    India’s Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) said the bilateral meeting infused “fresh impetus to the India-UK Comprehensive Strategic Partnership.” 

    “Prime Minister Narendra Modi met Prime Minister Keir Starmer of the UK on the sidelines of the G20 Brazil Summit in Rio. The leaders discussed various facets of the India-UK Comprehensive Strategic Partnership. They also acknowledged the need for a balanced and mutually beneficial FTA,” the MEA said in its post on X. 

    Meanwhile, Downing Street highlighted that Starmer was using his trip to Brazil for the G20 Summit to strengthen ties with the world’s leading economic powers to drive growth and deliver for the British people. 

    The meeting with Modi came shortly after Starmer’s meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping and talks with Japan Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba and Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese. 

    On the India-UK trade talks, Downing Street revealed the Department for Business and Trade (DBT) would soon unveil the government’s new trade strategy that would be aligned with its industrial strategy to help inform all future trade negotiations and achieve long-term sustainable, inclusive and resilient growth through trade. 

    “India is the fifth largest economy in the world and a vital trading partner for the UK. We believe there is a good deal to be done here that works for both nations,” said UK Business and Trade Secretary Jonathan Reynolds. 

    “Whether it’s lowering Indian tariffs to help British firms export to this dynamic market or boosting investment, which already supports over 6,00,000 jobs across both countries, striking a deal is important to deliver this government’s core mission of driving economic growth,” he said. 

    India and the UK have been negotiating a Free Trade Agreement (FTA) since January 2022, with talks paused during general elections in both countries earlier this year. 

    According to the latest statistics, the bilateral trade relationship was worth GBP 42 billion in the 12 months to June. An FTA is expected to significantly boost the figure. 

    The Labour Party government in the UK is keen to highlight a trade-friendly message as a means to deliver a strong economy at home. 

    The DBT had announced the Starmer-led government’s commitment to relaunching talks with all FTA partners shortly after the Labour Party won the July general elections. 

    Since then, negotiations have been kickstarted with the Gulf Cooperation Council, Switzerland and South Korea, with the UK also set to join the Comprehensive and Progressive Agreement for Trans-Pacific Partnership on December 15. 

    While officials on the Indian side had already expressed their readiness to resume FTA negotiations from the stalled fourteenth round, this announcement of a new year start for the talks is the first clear signal of a timeframe from the British side. 

    ALSO READ: When Starmer meets Xi… 

    ALSO READ: Starmer has no plans to meet the Taliban at Baku 

  • Starmer covers defence, security in first call with Trump

    Starmer covers defence, security in first call with Trump

    During the call on Wednesday evening, both leaders agreed to work towards strengthening the “incredibly strong” US-UK special relationship and committed to ensure the bilateral ties continue to thrive.

    Prime Minister Keir Starmer touched upon a range of topics, including defence and regional security, during his congratulatory phone call with US President-elect Donald Trump after a “historic” election victory.

    During the call on Wednesday evening, both leaders agreed to work towards strengthening the “incredibly strong” US-UK special relationship and committed to ensure the bilateral ties continue to thrive.

    “The Prime Minister offered his hearty congratulations and said he looked forward to working closely with President-elect Trump across all areas of the special relationship. From defence and security to growth and prosperity, the relationship between the UK and US was incredibly strong and would continue to thrive for many years to come, the leaders agreed,” a Downing Street spokesperson said.

    Starmer is said to have also reflected on the situation in the Middle East and “underscored the importance of regional stability”. They went on to discuss their recent meeting at Trump Tower when Starmer was in New York for the United Nations General Assembly.

    “The leaders fondly recalled their meeting in September, and President-elect Trump’s close connections and affinity to the United Kingdom and looked forward to working with one another,” Downing Street added.

    The phone call came after a heated first exchange between Starmer and the newly elected UK Leader of the Opposition Kemi Badenoch in the House of Commons.

    The Conservative Party chief challenged the Labour leader over his party volunteers having flown in to support the campaign of Trump’s Democrat rival Kamala Harris.

    “I am very sure that President Trump will soon be calling to thank him for sending all of those north London Labour activists to campaign for his opponent,” Badenoch taunted.

    “It is absolutely crucial that we have a strong relationship – that strong, special relationship, forged in difficult circumstances — between the US and the UK. We will continue to work, as we have done in our four months in government, on issues of security, our economy and global conflict,” Starmer responded.

    Earlier, Starmer had been forced to stress that any party activists in the US during the election campaign were there as volunteers on their own time. Badenoch also raised the risk of increased tariffs on UK exports by the new Trump administration, which would threaten the country’s manufacturing sector and urged him to revive UK-US free trade agreement (FTA) talks, which the previous Biden regime had cancelled.

    Meanwhile, Starmer is in Budapest on Thursday for a summit hosted by Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban where Trump’s victory and its implications on Europe and the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) are expected to dominate the agenda.

    The European Political Community (EPC), which holds these summits every six months, was set up in the wake of the Russia-Ukraine conflict as a chance for the European Union (EU) to meet wider partners including non-members such as the UK and Turkiye to discuss key security challenges affecting Europe.

    ALSO READ: Bank of England cuts interest rates by 0.25 points to 4.75%

  • British PM vows to slash red tape

    British PM vows to slash red tape

    Unions express concern as PM to say government will ‘rip out the bureaucracy that blocks investment’

    Keir Starmer will promise to slash red tape and “rip out the bureaucracy that blocks investment” as he hosts hundreds of global business executives for a major summit in central London.

    After a troubled run-up to the event, including a bruising row with the Dubai-based owner of P&O Ferries, the prime minister will urge the world’s largest businesses to invest in the UK, promising them stable policy and low regulation as an incentive to do so.

    Starmer will say in his keynote speech on Monday: “We’ve got to look at regulation where it is needlessly holding back the investment, to take our country forward.

    “Where it is stopping us building the homes, the datacentres, warehouses, grid connectors, roads, train lines, you name it then mark my words – we will get rid of it. We will rip out the bureaucracy that blocks investment and we will make sure that every regulator in this country take growth as seriously as this room does.”

    Some in the union movement expressed concern at the prospect of another deregulatory push, with one likening Starmer’s tone to that of his predecessor David Cameron, who swept away building safety regulations as part of a “bonfire of red tape”.

    The prime minister is looking to woo foreign capital as part of the government’s push to get the economy growing again and has already announced billions of pounds worth of investment from companies, including Amazon and Blackstone.

    Among the speakers for Monday’s summit at the Guildhall are Ruth Porat, the president of Google’s parent company Alphabet, David Ricks, the chief executive of the drug company Eli Lilly, and Larry Fink, the chief executive of BlackRock.

    Ministers have already begun rolling out big changes to the planning system to encourage building, including removing a de facto ban on onshore windfarms and promising to make it easier to build on the green belt.

    Starmer’s comments at the investment summit suggest the government is likely to go further.

    No 10 would not say which regulations are likely to be in scope, but officials said they wanted to review the remit of large regulators such as the Competition and Markets Authority to focus on growth as their main priority.

    As well as the deregulatory drive, the chancellor, Rachel Reeves, will unveil a green paper detailing the government’s industrial strategy, which officials say will be focused on eight growth-driving sectors.

    And as the final element of the government’s business charm offensive, attenders will then be invited to a reception at St Paul’s Cathedral also attended by King Charles.

    “We are focusing on investment because the mission of growth, in this country especially, demands it,” Starmer will say. “Private sector investment is the way we rebuild our country and pay our way in the world. This is a great moment to back Britain.”

    But while Starmer’s pro-business drive has already managed to attract billions of pounds of new investment, it has also caused ructions within his own party and among trade unions.

    Unions have warned the industrial strategy is unlikely to make a difference if the government is unwilling to bail out businesses such as Grangemouth, the Scottish oil refinery threatened with closure.

    Sharon Graham, the general secretary of Unite, said on Sunday: “What is happening in Grangemouth is an act of industrial vandalism … We cannot have a situation where the state writes blank cheques for corporations, who then refuse to protect jobs.”

    Some in the union movement are also concerned about the prospect of another deregulatory push, after similar moves under Conservative prime ministers.

    One union source likened Starmer’s words to Cameron’s “bonfire of red tape”. “The coalition also had a massive shake-up of red tape, and ended up taking out loads of safety regulations,” the source said.

    Others are troubled by the involvement in the summit of Macquarie, the investment fund that was highly criticised over the way it ran Thames Water. The Australian investment firm will announce on Monday a £20bn package of planned investments in Britain, including to roll out a network of fast-charging electric vehicle infrastructure nationwide.

    Matt Wrack, the general secretary of the Fire Brigades Union, said: “The prime minister should use the government’s investment summit to announce an end to this great water privatisation ripoff, and the renationalisation of this vital public service.”

    The prime minister is also dealing with the fallout from a damaging cabinet row over the attendance at the summit of DP World, which owns P&O Ferries.

    DP World had threatened to pull out of the summit and cancel a planned £1bn investment after the transport secretary called the ferry company a “rogue operator”. Referring to the company’s controversial decision in 2022 to fire 800 staff without notice, Louise Haigh also said she was boycotting the company and had encouraged her department not to deal with it.

    ALSO READ: UK overseas aid budget faces £900m raid  

  • Trump, Starmer meet for two-hour New York dinner

    Trump, Starmer meet for two-hour New York dinner

    Trump and Starmer were also joined by Britain’s Foreign Secretary David Lammy, who has made scathing remarks about Trump in the past…reports Asian Lite News

    Keir Starmer met Donald Trump in New York for a two-hour dinner, the first meeting for the new British Prime Minister and the former US President, media reports said on Friday.

    Trump, the Republican nominee in November’s US election, hosted the Labour Party leader at Trump Tower on Thursday, the BBC, The Guardian and The Daily Mail reported.

    Speaking ahead of the meeting, Trump told reporters: “I actually think he’s very nice. He ran a great race. He did very well. It’s very early. He’s very popular.”

    Starmer won a landslide election victory in the UK’s July general election, ousting the Conservatives after 14 years in power.

    Starmer said it was important for him to meet both candidates in the US election but that “diary challenges” meant it had not been possible to schedule a meeting with Vice President and Democrat nominee Kamala Harris.

    “We’ve now got the opportunity to meet Trump, which is good,” he said.

    Trump and Starmer were also joined by Britain’s Foreign Secretary David Lammy, who has made scathing remarks about Trump in the past.

    In 2018, Lammy called Trump “a woman-hating, neo-Nazi-sympathizing sociopath.”

    However, Lammy was more diplomatic earlier this year, saying in a speech that Trump’s “attitude to European security is often misunderstood.”

    Starmer has taken a neutral stance on the US election, although experts say a Trump presidency could pose difficulties, particularly with doubts over the Republican’s support for NATO and Ukraine.

    Starmer was in New York attending the United Nations General Assembly.

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  • Starmer lambasts Russia over Ukraine at UNSC

    Starmer lambasts Russia over Ukraine at UNSC

    Keir Starmer accused Russia of violating the UN charter because its invasion of Ukraine was illegal…reports Asian Lite News

    Keir Starmer has told Russia he does not know how it can show its face at the United Nations after invading Ukraine and treating its own citizens as “bits of meat to fling into the grinder”.

    Addressing the UN security council, of which Russia is one of five permanent members, Starmer delivered a direct message to Moscow that it should not be present at the meeting.

    He accused Russia of violating the UN charter because its invasion of Ukraine was illegal, threatened global security and had caused “colossal human suffering”.

    “We must ensure accountability for those violating the UN charter and this council must recommit to the values that it sets out,” he said. “This should go without saying. Yet, the greatest violation of the charter in a generation has been committed by one of this council’s permanent members.”

    He drew attention to the 35,000 civilians who have been killed or injured, the 6 million forced to flee and almost 20,000 Ukrainian children kidnapped by Russia.

    The British prime minister added: “I think of Yaroslav Bazylevych, whose wife and three daughters were killed earlier this month by a Russian strike on civilians in Lviv. And I wonder how Russia can show its face in this building.

    “Six hundred thousand Russian soldiers have also been killed or wounded in this war. And for what? The UN charter, which they sit here to uphold, speaks of human dignity. Not treating your own citizens as bits of meat to fling into the grinder.”

    As well as calling for accountability for Russia, Starmer also addressed the conflicts in the Middle East, saying the region was “on the brink”.

    He called for diplomacy and an immediate ceasefire between Israel and Hezbollah, and an immediate, full and complete ceasefire in relation to Israel’s war in Gaza with the release of all the hostages.

    “We need a political route to that agreement, which provides a bridge to a better future. A credible and irreversible path towards a viable Palestinian state,” he said. “Alongside a safe and secure state of Israel. This is the only way to provide security and justice for both Israelis and Palestinians.”

    Starmer’s trip to the United Nations general assembly in New York is his third trip to the US in three months. The Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, is also attending to present his “victory plan” to Joe Biden and the US presidential candidates, Donald Trump and Kamala Harris.

    Zelenskyy has been seeking permission to use British-French made Storm Shadow missiles on Russian territory, with UK support, but negotiations with the US are still continuing as the weapons use some US technology.

    Pressed on when a decision would be made about the use of UK-supplied Storm Shadow missiles within Russia, Starmer said: “We will have discussions about a whole range of issues, and we will listen carefully to what President Zelenskyy’s got to say, and that’s what’s going to happen in the next few days.”

    He added the discussions would not be about the “sole issue like long-range missiles” but a “strategic, overarching route for Ukraine to find a way through this and succeed against Russian aggression”.

    Addressing the UN security council on Tuesday, Zelenskyy accused Moscow of committing “international crimes” by targeting Ukrainian civilians and energy infrastructure, and claimed he had proof that Putin was plotting to target three Ukrainian nuclear power plants to further degrade the country’s energy grid.

    PM wants to meet Trump and Harris before polls

    Starmer has said he wants to meet Kamala Harris and Donald Trump before the US presidential election in November. It comes amid reports No 10 aides are hoping to set up meetings with both candidates this week, whilst the prime minister attends a UN summit in New York.

    Asked whether he would meet them during the trip, he replied it would be “very good to meet both of them at some stage” before the poll. “We’ll just have to see what’s possible,” he told reporters on his flight over.

    “But I’m going for the [UN] General Assembly. I don’t doubt that a lot of time is going to be spent on the Middle East and Ukraine,” he added.

    Starmer has not met either candidate in person, although he spoke to Trump on the phone in the wake of the assassination attempt against him in July. His suggestion he would like to meet the Republican candidate in the coming weeks, however, comes amid an awkward spat with one of his Labour ministers.

    According to the Guardian, Home Office minister Angela Eagle told a fringe event at Labour’s annual conference that Trump had emboldened racists in Britain through his own “anti-immigrant rhetoric”.

    “If you look at some of the memes that he’s using with the wall stuff at the moment, it’s astonishing, quite the level of vitriol that it has created,” she added.

    Her remarks have been dismissed by the Trump campaign, with spokesman Steven Cheung telling news website Politico: “Nobody knows who this random person is or cares what comes out of her mouth”. “Who is she and what does she do?” he added.

    Asked by reporters whether he agreed with Eagle’s remarks, Sir Keir dodged the question, replying that responsibility for this summer’s riots, which had been fuelled by far-right sentiment, lay with “thugs”.

    Harris’s Democrat party is more politically aligned with Sir Keir’s Labour, whilst the pair also share professional backgrounds as former public prosecutors.

    But Labour has also been preparing for the possibility of another Trump presidency, with Foreign Secretary David Lammy meeting Trump campaign advisers and Republican members of Congress earlier this year.

    Lammy has also made comments about Trump in the past that could cause diplomatic awkwardness if the former president returns to power.

    Back in 2018, Lammy called the former US president “a woman-hating, neo-Nazi-sympathizing sociopath” and a “profound threat to the international order”.

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  • ‘Stick To My Plans’

    ‘Stick To My Plans’

    Starmer will try to persuade a politics-weary population he has a plan to turn Britain around in the long-term by tackling overdue problems…reports Asian Lite News

    Prime Minister Keir Starmer will appeal to voters on Tuesday to stick with his plans for Britain, saying tough decisions in the short-term would pave the way for gains in the future such as higher living standards, safer streets and better services.

    Addressing his Labour Party’s annual conference in the northern English city of Liverpool, Starmer will try to persuade a politics-weary population he has a plan to turn Britain around in the long-term by tackling overdue problems.

    He will warn the remedy for Britain’s many ills will mean his government taking difficult decisions, such as the cut to winter fuel payments for pensioners that has drawn criticism from across the nation and within his party.

    But he will say in the long-term Britain will be unrecognisable, with a growing economy helping to lift living standards, reduce waiting lists for public health services, and offer more opportunities to the next generations.

    “The politics of national renewal are collective. They involve a shared struggle,” Starmer will tell the conference according to extracts from his speech.

    “A project that says, to everyone, this will be tough in the short-term, but in the long-term – it’s the right thing to do for our country. And we all benefit from that.”

    It is a more hopeful message than the gloomy narrative Starmer and his team have adopted since winning power in a July landslide election, when ministers repeatedly complained that the inheritance left by the former Conservative government meant they could not immediately spend money to solve problems.

    Dogged by criticism over the winter fuel payments cuts and by a dispute over the use of donations, Starmer will want to reset a conference which has not been the celebration supporters and members had expected after Labour returned to power.

    Following his finance minister Rachel Reeves’ speech on Monday, when she said her “optimism for Britain burns brighter than ever”, Starmer will point to “that light at the end of this tunnel, that Britain that belongs to you”.

    After moving the Labour Party towards the centre of British politics after it lurched to the left under former leader Jeremy Corbyn, Starmer will say he will similarly change Britain.

    “But I will not do it with easy answers. I will not do it with false hope,” he will say. “Make no mistake, the work of change has begun … And we’re only just getting started.”

    In his speech, Starmer will promise a future of “national renewal”. “The politics of national renewal are collective. They involve a shared struggle,” he will say.

    “A project that says, to everyone, this will be tough in the short term, but in the long term – it’s the right thing to do for our country. And we all benefit from that.”

    Echoing the message his Chancellor Rachel Reeves gave in her speech on Monday, Starmer will say that “if we take tough long-term decisions now” there will be “light at the end of the tunnel”.

    However, he will warn against “easy answers” and offering “false hope”. Starmer will also announce new legislation to crack down on welfare fraudsters, which Labour says is expected to save £1.6bn over the next five years.

    Under the plans, the Department for Work and Pensions will get new powers to investigate suspected benefit fraud and recover debts from individuals who can pay money back but have avoided doing so. Labour said there would be safeguarding measures to protect vulnerable claimants.

    The party has accused the previous Conservative government of leaving a £22bn “black hole” of unfunded spending commitments in the public finances – something the Tories have disputed. Starmer will repeat the claim in his speech, saying the Tories have also “decimated public services, leaving communities held together by little more than goodwill”.

    But he will warn the pockets of working people “are not deep” and public services will need “reform” as well as investment. “Just because we all want low taxes and good public services, does not mean that the iron law of properly funding policies can be ignored,” he will add.

    Labour has repeatedly promised it will not raise taxes on “working people”, including VAT, National Insurance and income tax. However, the chancellor has already said she will have to raise some other taxes in October’s Budget because of the state of the public finances.

    The government has also blamed the £22bn black hole for the decision to cut winter fuel payments. A debate and non-binding vote on the issue had been expected on Monday but could now take place on Wednesday, when many activists will have left the conference. Unite, which is among the trade unions calling for the cut to be reversed, branded the delay an “outrage”.

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