Foreign diplomacy is usually a refuge for Keir Starmer. But as the Prime Minister touched down in Evian-les-Bains, France for this week’s G7 summit, the warm greetings and firm handshakes couldn’t hide the tension that has bubbled up between Starmer and the summit’s other attendees over the past week or so.
With Thursday’s Makerfield by-election hanging over him like an impending political death sentence, Starmer had been hoping to sweep into Evian and talk up Britain’s support for Ukraine, show willing on keeping the peace in the Strait of Hormuz and, generally, demonstrate that he is the right prime minister – and, crucially, ally to Europe – to face the defence and security threats on the continent’s horizon.
Yet former defence secretary John Healey’s resignation on Thursday has turned Starmer’s diplomatic happy place into an extension of his domestic nightmare. Healey’s revelation in his resignation letter that Starmer and the Chancellor Rachel Reeves are planning to raise defence spending to just 2.68 per cent of GDP by 2030, as well as the government’s subsequent failure to publish the Defence Investment Plan (DIP), set the scene for an awkward reunion between Starmer and the other group leaders gathering in France this week.
