In recent months Keir Starmer has taken to declaring that “every minute that we’re not talking about the cost of living is a wasted minute”. Even before Donald Trump’s new blitz of interventionism, that line looked like a hostage to fortune; now it appears positively futile.
Any attempt to separate neatly the domestic and the foreign – as leaders routinely do – ignores the reality that the two are inexorably linked. When Russia invaded Ukraine, those who deemed the latter some faraway country about which we know little still saw their energy bills spike.
This truth is something Starmer will acknowledge when he addresses an all-staff meeting at No 10 this afternoon. “We live in a volatile world where international events impact the UK more directly at any time than most of us can remember,” he will say. “Even when I’m abroad my focus is firmly on home – always thinking about how global developments affect people’s daily lives.”
Yet a bigger question looms over this government: what is its purpose abroad? The Prime Minister has long dismissed those who urge him to “pick a side” in foreign policy. From a weak starting point after years of drift, the government has deepened relations with the US, Europe and China. That’s not something many deemed possible in the immediate aftermath of Trump’s second election victory.
Yet events are exposing the limits of this approach. As Trump’s presidency continues to remake the world, the demand for a clearer sense of direction will grow. Some in Labour speak of a tension between “America-first realists” and “Europe-first realists” – neither group believes the UK must make a crudely definitive choice but they do have different priorities.
“We have to continue to work with the US but also build up our independence, power and autonomy with Europe,” argues one government source. “Our relationship with the US is imposing a heavy price domestically and to unite the progressive left we need a stronger European offer.”
Polling by Opinium shows that 32 per cent of the public now view the US as a threat – the highest level since last year’s tariff war – while only 42 per cent regard the country as an ally.
For Starmer, the danger, as so often, is a government that appears at the mercy of events. His task is not only to reassure voters that the domestic and the international can be reconciled – but to give an account of British foreign policy that suggests agency rather than passivity.
This piece first appeared in the Morning Call newsletter; receive it every morning by subscribing on Substack here
[Further reading: Union members could decide who the next Labour leader is]
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