A government under the leadership of Labour's Keir Starmer would not be able to effectively forge new alliances for Britain with nations around the world, a foreign policy expert has concluded.
Mr Starmer’s determination to be elected prime minister and take up residence in Number 10 Downing Street has been clear since he was elected to lead the main opposition party in April 2020.
In a new report, he is credited for restoring the party’s foreign policy agenda close to what it resembled 10 years ago, but the author said there remain “serious gaps” in how Labour deals with international affairs.
Prof Azeem Ibrahim of the Henry Jackson Society, a London-based think tank, analysed Labour’s foreign policy under Mr Starmer and looked at how a Starmer government would react to a crisis.
He argued Mr Starmer's approach to what happens overseas is “more assertive and more serious than that of any Labour leader since the general election of 2010 but still has serious gaps”.
In his opinion, Britain’s position on the world stage would probably not be as robust as it is today if Mr Starmer was at the helm.
In his report, The Prospective Foreign Policy of Keir Starmer, the award-winning international relations academic, who advised US President Joe Biden’s campaign on foreign policy in the run-up to the 2020 presidential election, listed the following four takeaways:
· Mr Starmer favours maintaining Britain’s existing alliances “but [would] be unlikely to establish new ones.”
· He offers “ideological support” for the Biden administration’s foreign policy and for the broad goals of the EU.
· The Labour leader opposes “revisionist illiberal powers in Europe”, including Viktor Orban’s Hungary and Vladimir Putin’s Russia.
· He seeks to work with other states on a case-by-case basis regarding issues such as climate change and decarbonisation.
Prof Ibrahim said two years into Mr Starmer’s tenure it is high time he laid out a “positive vision for Labour’s foreign policy” to give the world a taste of what a government led by him would be like.
“This is the first major assessment of Sir Keir Starmer’s foreign policy since he took over the leadership of the Labour party,” he said. “ Like most report cards, it is a mixed picture, but Sir Keir can take credit for restoring the Labour party’s foreign policy standing to closer to the party’s norm, before the aberrations of the previous 10 years.
“However, if the Labour party is – as Sir Keir says it is – a government in waiting, the time has come to set out a positive vision for Labour’s foreign policy that lets our adversaries and allies know the tenor it will take.”
Mr Starmer was elected leader of Labour in April 2020 after his predecessor Jeremy Corbyn announced he was stepping down following the party’s dismal results in the December 2019 general election.
Labour won 202 seats – its lowest number and proportion of seats since 1935 – as many traditional Labour voters backed the Tories following their pledge to “get Brexit done” after numerous delays.
In recent months he has been a strong critic of Prime Minister Boris Johnson over his breach of Covid-19 rules at Downing Street gatherings during lockdowns, for which he was fined.
The opposition leader was earlier this month revealed to be facing his own police investigation over allegations he broke lockdown restrictions by having a beer and takeaway food with staff during election campaigning last year.
Mr Starmer has vowed to resign as Labour leader if he is found guilty of breaking the rules and issued with a fine.
Prof Ibrahim’s report is published by The Henry Jackson Society.
Squad
Ali Kasheif, Salim Rashid, Khalifa Al Hammadi, Khalfan Mubarak, Ali Mabkhout, Omar Abdulrahman, Mohammed Al Attas, Abdullah Ramadan, Zayed Al Ameri (Al Jazira), Mohammed Al Shamsi, Hamdan Al Kamali, Mohammed Barghash, Khalil Al Hammadi (Al Wahda), Khalid Essa, Mohammed Shaker, Ahmed Barman, Bandar Al Ahbabi (Al Ain), Al Hassan Saleh, Majid Suroor (Sharjah) Walid Abbas, Ahmed Khalil (Shabab Al Ahli), Tariq Ahmed, Jasim Yaqoub (Al Nasr), Ali Saleh, Ali Salmeen (Al Wasl), Hassan Al Muharami (Baniyas)
2018 ICC World Twenty20 Asian Western Sub Regional Qualifier
Event info: The tournament in Kuwait this month is the first phase of the qualifying process for sides from Asia for the 2020 World T20 in Australia. The UAE must finish within the top three teams out of the six at the competition to advance to the Asia regional finals. Success at regional finals would mean progression to the World T20 Qualifier.
UAE’s fixtures: Fri Apr 20, UAE v Qatar; Sat Apr 21, UAE v Saudi Arabia; Mon Apr 23, UAE v Bahrain; Tue Apr 24, UAE v Maldives; Thu Apr 26, UAE v Kuwait
World T20 2020 Qualifying process:
- Sixteen teams will play at the World T20 in two years’ time.
- Australia have already qualified as hosts
- Nine places are available to the top nine ranked sides in the ICC’s T20i standings, not including Australia, on Dec 31, 2018.
- The final six teams will be decided by a 14-team World T20 Qualifier.
World T20 standings: 1 Pakistan; 2 Australia; 3 India; 4 New Zealand; 5 England; 6 South Africa; 7 West Indies; 8 Sri Lanka; 9 Afghanistan; 10 Bangladesh; 11 Scotland; 12 Zimbabwe; 13 UAE; 14 Netherlands; 15 Hong Kong; 16 Papua New Guinea; 17 Oman; 18 Ireland
Benefits of first-time home buyers' scheme
- Priority access to new homes from participating developers
- Discounts on sales price of off-plan units
- Flexible payment plans from developers
- Mortgages with better interest rates, faster approval times and reduced fees
- DLD registration fee can be paid through banks or credit cards at zero interest rates
Gothia Cup 2025
4,872 matches
1,942 teams
116 pitches
76 nations
26 UAE teams
15 Lebanese teams
2 Kuwaiti teams
Tearful appearance
Chancellor Rachel Reeves set markets on edge as she appeared visibly distraught in parliament on Wednesday.
Legislative setbacks for the government have blown a new hole in the budgetary calculations at a time when the deficit is stubbornly large and the economy is struggling to grow.
She appeared with Keir Starmer on Thursday and the pair embraced, but he had failed to give her his backing as she cried a day earlier.
A spokesman said her upset demeanour was due to a personal matter.
ELIO
Starring: Yonas Kibreab, Zoe Saldana, Brad Garrett
Directors: Madeline Sharafian, Domee Shi, Adrian Molina
Rating: 4/5
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
The specs: 2018 Jeep Compass
Price, base: Dh100,000 (estimate)
Engine: 2.4L four-cylinder
Transmission: Nine-speed automatic
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Multitasking pays off for money goals
Tackling money goals one at a time cost financial literacy expert Barbara O'Neill at least $1 million.
That's how much Ms O'Neill, a distinguished professor at Rutgers University in the US, figures she lost by starting saving for retirement only after she had created an emergency fund, bought a car with cash and purchased a home.
"I tell students that eventually, 30 years later, I hit the million-dollar mark, but I could've had $2 million," Ms O'Neill says.
Too often, financial experts say, people want to attack their money goals one at a time: "As soon as I pay off my credit card debt, then I'll start saving for a home," or, "As soon as I pay off my student loan debt, then I'll start saving for retirement"."
People do not realise how costly the words "as soon as" can be. Paying off debt is a worthy goal, but it should not come at the expense of other goals, particularly saving for retirement. The sooner money is contributed, the longer it can benefit from compounded returns. Compounded returns are when your investment gains earn their own gains, which can dramatically increase your balances over time.
"By putting off saving for the future, you are really inhibiting yourself from benefiting from that wonderful magic," says Kimberly Zimmerman Rand , an accredited financial counsellor and principal at Dragonfly Financial Solutions in Boston. "If you can start saving today ... you are going to have a lot more five years from now than if you decide to pay off debt for three years and start saving in year four."
The years Ramadan fell in May
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Speed: 0-100km/h 3.9 seconds
Price: Dh230,000
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What's in the deal?
Agreement aims to boost trade by £25.5bn a year in the long run, compared with a total of £42.6bn in 2024
India will slash levies on medical devices, machinery, cosmetics, soft drinks and lamb.
India will also cut automotive tariffs to 10% under a quota from over 100% currently.
Indian employees in the UK will receive three years exemption from social security payments
India expects 99% of exports to benefit from zero duty, raising opportunities for textiles, marine products, footwear and jewellery
