The prime minister must resist becoming ‘Air Miles Starmer’

Faced with the most challenging foreign policy landscape of any British leader since the Second World War, he will find it difficult to refuse overseas trips – but the PM needs to tell the public a more convincing story about why his never-ending travels are in the national interest, says Andrew Grice

After a spate of foreign trips by Keir Starmer, jittery Labour MPs were reassured last month he would be spending more time on the domestic front. So they were disappointed when he popped up in two Gulf states and Cyprus this week.

There is more bad news for them: after 15 visits to 13 countries since the July election, the prime minister will squeeze in yet another trip abroad before Christmas as he tries to enter the growing debate over how the Ukraine-Russia war might end.

Some foreign diplomats are surprised Starmer has not been more forceful on Ukraine, given the UK’s solid support for Volodymyr Zelensky. Emmanuel Macron stole a march by holding talks in Paris with Donald Trump and Zelensky last weekend when the president-elect visited for the reopening of Notre-Dame cathedral.

After the government’s wobbly start, the many Labour backbenchers with small majorities are already fretting about the next election. Although Starmer launched the government’s six policy targets and proposals to boost housebuilding, some of his MPs think he should do more “leading from the front” and worry about his focus on the international agenda.

One warned: “Foreign affairs are not going to decide the next election.” Labour figures who privately predicted the technocratic Starmer would become “a foreign affairs and defence PM” because he is not excited by domestic policy feel vindicated.

Yet there is another side to this story.

Starmer had a rotten inheritance on the foreign front as well as on the public finances. Brexit, and the chaos of having five PMs and seven foreign secretaries since 2016, damaged the UK abroad and Starmer had to rebuild burnt bridges and personal relationships. With a big majority and five-year term in the bag, he can play the stability card – unlike Macron in France and Olaf Scholz in Germany.

The foreign agenda is huge. One Starmer ally described his in-tray as “the most challenging for any new PM since the Second World War”, with the return of Trump, the UK’s reset with the EU and the challenge of China, where Starmer wants a more positive relationship.

Although voters have noticed their PM often appears to be out of the country, he does not want to become known as “Air Miles Starmer”. Such a perception could contribute to an image of being out of touch with the working people he wants to champion, adding to the damage of the freebies controversy.

On his trips, Starmer has begun to make the link to domestic matters, such as the economy and immigration. He said this week’s visit to the Gulf was about attracting investment to boost UK economic growth, promising that “hardworking British people will reap the rewards for generations to come”. Harder to prove than to say.

One Starmer ally was dismissive of the anxious Labour MPs, saying: “Keir is not a borough councillor. He does well on the international stage.” Aides tell me he will do fewer trips after deliberately "investing in relationships early in his premiership”.

The problem with that? Trump’s return to the White House will surely mean a continuing UK focus on foreign matters. The agenda includes Ukraine and the Middle East, and there are always unexpected events as in Syria, which eclipsed Starmer’s trip to the UAE and Saudi Arabia. That was bad luck rather than bad judgment.

However, some Labour figures wonder whether Starmer could have delegated some international meetings to cabinet ministers. Ed Miliband was also at the Cop29 climate summit in Baku, and Starmer could have announced at home the UK’s 81 per cent cut in greenhouse gas emissions by 2035.

He got little out of the Commonwealth summit in Samoa apart from unwanted demands by member countries for UK reparations for the slave trade. Downing Street judged it could not allow King Charles to make the 9,800-mile trek without the PM.

Despite the sniping, there is no alternative to Starmer’s approach. The international is also the domestic; the two agendas are increasingly intertwined. Immigration will be a big issue at the next election because the Conservatives, Reform UK and voters’ concerns will make it one. If the government is to defuse the small boats problem, it will need a deal on migration with the EU. If Trump imposes tariffs on the UK, that will impact on domestic economic policy.

Foreign affairs can matter at elections: Labour unexpectedly lost five seats to pro-Palestinian independents in July. There is chatter in Labour land about Jeremy Corbyn’s allies launching a hard-left breakaway party, which would oppose Starmer’s stance abroad and alleged austerity at home.

In 2025, Starmer will find it impossible to stop clocking up the air miles, but will need to tell the public a more convincing story about why his never-ending travels are in the national interest.