The left-wing British prime minister has said he wants to meet both former President Donald Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris during his visit to the US this week, but his own cabinet has been outspoken in its criticism of Mr Trump and has struggled to stay on message.
Sir Keir Starmer is flying to New York to attend the United Nations General Assembly, where he is hoping to curry favour with the future US president (whoever that may be) while he is in the US. “In terms of the candidates, it would be very good to meet with both of them, if possible at some stage before the election. We'll just have to see what's possible,” Starmer told reporters on the flight. Notes The Daily Telegraph.
But Starmer may face an uphill battle to secure these meetings. Guardian Assert“It's understood that to meet one candidate you have to meet the other,” Starmer said, so if one candidate refuses, the British prime minister could go home empty-handed. The problem for Starmer may be that while he continues his months-long charm offensive against the Trump campaign — an effort that matters less because of Labour's natural ties to the Democrats — his own senior colleagues are undermining it.
Speaking at Labour’s annual conference this week, the newly appointed Minister for Border Security and Asylum, Angela Eagle, spoke in very specific language used by the progressive left when they feel they are interacting amongst their own ranks, lamenting the “pernicious ‘alienation’ of asylum seekers” and right-wing rhetoric which “in my view creates space for blatant racism”.
It is difficult for newly arrived migrants to “rise above the constant drumbeat of toxic anti-immigration, anti-migrant rhetoric that is growing not just in the UK but across the Western world.”
Going into the mix, the “Border Security” minister revealed his actual views on the usefulness of the border, saying: “So Trump is doing the same thing… If you look at the memes he's using now about the wall, it's amazing. The level of outrage it's generated is significant.”
The Trump campaign was displeased and hit back, with a spokesman reportedly saying of the comments, “No one knows who this unknown person is or what comes out of her mouth…. Who is she and what does she do?”
POLITICO Notes Nigel Farage, the leader of the Brexit campaign and an ally of Trump, was skeptical of Eagle's reckless remarks, saying, “Angela Eagle and the Labour Party are so terrified of this that they can only abuse anyone who is concerned about unwanted changes to our country.” Meanwhile, Labour leader Sir Keir, who has launched an appeal to the US, did not endorse his colleague's remarks at all.
It's not the only disciplinary problem Starmer is facing with his party colleagues this week. One of the new Prime Minister's most debated policies is stripping away the extra cash payments that older Britons receive to heat their homes during the winter. The Government claims it can no longer afford to pay them, even as it continues to hand out huge amounts of cash for other benefits. The measure was rejected in a vote by the Prime Minister's own party members today, undermining Starmer's efforts to unite a broad-church party on the left.
Sir Keir is due to speak at the United Nations on Thursday. Starmer heads to New York this week, his second consecutive visit to the US, having visited Washington DC in an attempt to persuade President Joe Biden to authorise Ukraine to use Western weapons systems to attack deep inside Russia, but so far appears to have failed.
