The Prime Minister gave away his leverage in talks with Beijing before even boarding the plane
Keir Starmer is flying to China this week from a position of weakness, not strength.
This matters because China is not just another trading partner. It is a global superpower that uses trade, technology and its growing wealth to advance its geopolitical interests.
A British prime minister going to Beijing needs leverage, strength of purpose and a clear understanding of what is in our national interest. Starmer has none of the three.
Britain’s economic policy under Labour has drifted into dependency. We import more and more cheap Chinese goods because Labour has made it harder to produce anything at home.
Starmer and Rachel Reeves hiked taxes on businesses, smothered firms with regulation, and have overseen spikes in inflation and unemployment. They then act surprised when businesses close, supply chains move offshore, and we become increasingly reliant on trade with authoritarian states that do not share our values.
The same goes for Britain’s energy policy under Labour. Instead of drilling in the North Sea and exploiting Britain’s natural resources, Ed Miliband, the Energy Secretary, has made a clear ideological choice to leave Britain entirely reliant on China for our future energy supply. The reality of Miliband’s “green future” is Chinese-made solar panels, Chinese-made wind turbines and Chinese-made lithium batteries.
Outmanoeuvred again
Labour also chose to hand over sovereign British territory in the Chagos Islands to Mauritius, a country allied with China. If the treaty is ratified, that decision will not only cost UK taxpayers £35bn, but it will weaken our strategic position in the Indian Ocean and hand Beijing even greater influence near critical British military infrastructure.
But perhaps most worryingly of all, Keir Starmer gave away his only leverage in these talks with President Xi before he even boarded the plane to Beijing.
Last week, much to China’s delight, the Labour government waved through approval for the Chinese “super-embassy” in London. A vast complex, sitting in the heart of our capital, inches away from critical infrastructure in the City of London, and designed by a state that runs one of the most aggressive hostile intelligence operations in the world.
Sir Alex Younger, the former head of MI6, could not have been clearer when he said Britain must “wake up” to the threat posed by China’s challenge to global security. He warned that Western nations are under the “full press of Chinese espionage” and that there must be limits on tolerating states that behave in unacceptable ways.
The embassy could have been the leverage Britain needed. But, as happened with Chagos, Starmer has been outmanoeuvred once again. A Prime Minister who understood the national interest would not give away assets before negotiations begin.
There is another way.
Instead of taxing firms off the high street and driving customers onto cheap online Chinese outlets, Conservatives have said we will abolish business rates for small businesses. That is backing the people who take risks, create jobs and keep our town centres alive.
Instead of making our energy network dependent on Chinese supply chains, Conservatives have committed to approving new drilling in the North Sea, scrapping the so-called windfall tax on energy companies, and aggressively using the resources we already have.
This would actually increase domestic supply and ensure jobs for the workers whose livelihoods depend on our energy sector. And our Cheap Power Plan would cut bills for families, paid for by scrapping misguided net zero regulation and slashing the size of the Civil Service.
Instead of kowtowing to China, the Conservatives have opposed the super-embassy and the Chagos surrender from the outset, and we will leave the ECHR so that our veterans are no longer hounded by vexatious prosecutions, while those who threaten Britain hide behind legal loopholes.
For much of our lives, we have lived in a world shaped by peace, open trade, and American power keeping the worst dangers at bay. That world is fading.
War has returned to Europe. Authoritarian regimes are growing bolder. International rules are being ignored by those who never believed in them in the first place.
The Conservative Party believes in facing reality, not hiding from it. Our duty is simple and serious: to protect Britain, its people, and its way of life.
Labour is scared of China
By contrast, Labour behave as if good intentions are still enough. They put words, process and posturing first. They undermine growth and then wonder why Britain’s power declines.
China is a global superpower whose influence extends into every part of Britain’s economy and foreign affairs. The UK must always have a dialogue with China.
But we cannot be naïve. China is also a threat to Britain. It is a country that does not believe in democracy, it has sanctioned our MPs, it disrupts the global trade system, oppresses the Uyghur Muslims and has aggressive designs on Taiwan. We need to have a relationship with China; we do not need to be in hock to China.
The Labour Government is scared of China. Keir Starmer is too weak and has no backbone. Britain needs a government that will act in the British national interest and stand up for the British values of freedom and free enterprise.
In a world that is becoming tougher, we cannot afford wishful thinking.
The Conservative Party will always do what’s right for Britain and ensure we have a stronger economy and a stronger country.
