Starmer jibes at PM for not joining him in schmoozing elites in Davos

Keir Starmer jibes at Rishi Sunak for not having joined him in schmoozing business elites in Davos – as Labour leader claims PM’s absence is evidence of Britain’s economic ‘drift’

• Keir Starmer jibes at Rishi Sunak for not having joined him in attending Davos
• Labour leader claims the PM’s absence is a sign of Britain’s economic ‘drift’
• This week’s event is first in-person World Economic Forum since the pandemic 

Sir Keir Starmer today jibed at Rishi Sunak for not having joined him in schmoozing business elites in Davos.

The Labour leader used an appearance at the World Economic Forum to claim the Prime Minister’s absence from the event was a sign of Britain’s economic ‘drift’.

He claimed Mr Sunak ‘should have showed up’ and insisted his own attendance –  together with shadow chancellor Rachel Reeves – was a ‘statement of intent’ about Labour’s efforts to seize power from the Tories.

This week’s gathering in Davos, the Swiss ski resort, is the first in-person World Economic Forum since the Covid pandemic began.

It is being attended by the usual cast of global politicians and business elites.

But the PM is not attending with Downing Street having said his focus is on domestic matters such as the economy, the NHS and the Channel migrant crisis.

Sir Keir Starmer today jibed at Rishi Sunak for not having joined him in schmoozing business elites in Davos

The Labour leader used an appearance at the World Economic Forum to claim the Prime Minister’s own absence from the event was a sign of Britain’s economic ‘drift’

Sir Keir insisted his own attendance – together with shadow chancellor Rachel Reeves – was a ‘statement of intent’ about Labour’s efforts to seize power from the Tories

The PM is not attending with Downing Street having said his focus is on domestic matters such as the economy, the NHS and the Channel migrant crisis

Starmer admits he prefers Davos over Westminster – and picks Morgan over Corbyn 

Keir Starmer has admitted he prefers Davos to Westminster in an episode of the News Agents podcast.

‘Westminster is too constrained,’ he said.

‘Once you get out of Wesminster, whether it’s Davos or anywhere else, you actually engage with people that you can see working with in the future.

‘Westminster is just a tribal shouting place.’

Sir Keir was also asked whether he would prefer to sit next to Piers Morgan or his predecessor, Jeremy Corbyn, as two fellow Arsenal fans.

‘Piers Morgan,’ Sir Keir swiftly replied.

Appearing at a Davos panel event today, Sir Keir claimed Mr Sunak’s absence was being noted at the gathering.

‘Yes, I think our PM should have showed up at Davos,’ the Labour leader said.

‘One of the things that’s been impressed on me since I’ve been here is the absence of the UK.

‘That’s why it’s really important that I’m here and that our shadow chancellor Rachel Reeves is here.

‘As a statement of intent that should there be a change of government – and I hope there will be – the UK will play its part on the global stage in a way I think it probably hasn’t in recent years.’

Sir Keir also claimed Mr Sunak’s decision not to attend the World Economic Forum was evidence of Britain’s ‘drift’.

The Labour leader attacked a ‘failure to grow the economy’ during the Conservatives’ time in power.

‘I think that if you look at the UK, for 13 years the Achilles heel has been failure to grow the economy, and so this predated Brexit,’ he said.

‘Brexit made that even harder and that’s why we’ve been making the case for a closer economic relationship with the EU.

‘But it’s not just the EU, we’ve not had a strategic plan in the UK for 10 years. And if you don’t have a strategic plan, it’s very hard to attract investment.’

Sir Keir blamed a lack of foreign investment on a ‘sense of instability and drift’ caused by the recent turmoil in the Tory party.

‘We’ve got all the attributes for investment, we just need to create the circumstances, the environment in which we can change around what I think is the drift,’ he added.

‘The fact that our PM is not here I think is evidence of the drift. And we intend to reverse that.’

Sir Tony Blair also spoke at a Davos event today, with the ex-PM telling an audience ‘there’s “unforgivable” politics and “forgivable” politics’ in the response to pandemics

Former Labour leader Sir Tony Blair also spoke at a Davos event today, with the ex-PM telling an audience ‘there’s “unforgivable” politics and “forgivable” politics’ in the response to pandemics.

‘The unforgivable politics is turning a public health issue into a political issue,’ Sir Tony said.

‘What’s unforgivable is turning things like whether you wear a face mask or not into a political issue – that is unforgivable and stupid.

‘But there’s a forgivable politics. If you’re a politician and you’re facing an election and you’ve got the ability to vaccinate your people, you’re going to vaccinate you’re people first.

‘The question really is, how do you create a situation in which that more forgiveable political anxiety is dealt with by a plan that allows you now to work on what are the elements you’re going to need in order for this to be dealt with in the future equitably and properly.’

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