Sir Keir Starmer has “no place as Prime Minister” if he continues to not “respect out country” and “go to China with a begging bowl”, a top Tory has claimed.
Speaking to GB News, Shadow National Security Minister Alicia Kearns hit out at the Labour leader for his visit to Beijing, declaring none of the deals he has agreed are “meaningful”.
Among the discussions with Chinese President Xi Jingping, Sir Keir has agreed that UK citizens will be able to travel visa-free to China for trips under 30 days.
The world leaders also discussed easing tariff charges on scotch whisky exports and a crackdown on Chinese-made small boat engines, in a bid to tackle Britain’s migrant crisis.
Delivering her scathing verdict on Sir Keir’s trip, Ms Kearns told GB News: “If I was Prime Minister, I’d be pretty disappointed with this, because essentially he’s gone out there with a begging bowl to try and solve his self-inflicted economic woes.
“He’s come back with so very little, but what he has done is send a very clear message to China’s Communist Party that they can just crack on with the hostile acts that they’ve been conducting against our country.
“And there will be not only no repercussions, but actually they’ll get a propaganda coup in the British Prime Minister walking down red carpets over in Beijing.”
Challenging the Tory minister, host Nana Akua pushed back: “But wasn’t it your Government who allowed them to purchase the land for the Chinese Embassy? You must have known what it was for?”
Alicia Kearns has hit out at Keir Starmer for taking a ‘begging bowl’ to the world stage
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PA / GB NEWS
She responded: “And you know that I spoke out against that from the very, very moment, but actually, the key thing is we rejected it at the end. We said, no, we’re not going to allow this to go ahead.
“And what happened was the Chinese waited for the election, and as soon as the election happened, they put them back in again.”
Criticising Sir Keir, Ms Kearns said: “But I do want to touch on our record here, because Keir Starmer has been very clear to try and say that he’s having to unfreeze the Conservatives’s ice age with the Chinese Communist Party. We responded to their actions, he’s abdicating them of their responsibilities.
“We froze trade deals and trade talks because of their actions in Hong Kong. We stopped doing what we were doing because of the cyber attacks they were conducting against our country, because they took Jimmy Lai, a British national who has never been Chinese, hostage.
Sir Keir and President Xi have discussed easing tariff charges on scotch whisky exports and visas for businesspeople visiting China | PA
“We responded to their acts of aggression and said, no, we will not continue business as usual with them, and he’s just washed all that away and wants to blame us rather than the Chinese Communist Party.”
Arguing the PM should be “ashamed” of the deals he has struck with China, Ms Kearns told the People’s Channel: “Over the last 18 months, we’ve seen an increase in cyber attacks against our country, we’ve had a spike put at the heart of British Parliament, we’ve had attacks on refugees outside the Manchester consulate of the Chinese Communist Party. These are responses we’ve seen.
“And then when Keir Starmer goes begging and simpering to Beijing this week, what do they get in return? Some slightly easier tourism opportunities – and I’m glad for our whisky industry, we want to support our whisky industry, but if you were Prime Minister, wouldn’t you be a little bit ashamed if, having given them the embassy that they made as a precondition of the visit, you didn’t even get sanctions lifted off MPs? You didn’t get a reduction in hostile acts against our country, and you didn’t result in anything meaningful?”
Stressing Britain is “fundamental” on the world stage despite Sir Keir’s “desperate” approach to trade deals, Ms Kearns said: “They are absolutely desperate because they need to solve what they’ve done to our economy. We are not a small country. I’m sick and tired of the Labour Party suggesting that we need to go with begging bowls, and that we are not fundamentally important, we do not have a place in the world. We do.
Alicia Kearns told GB News the UK is ‘fundamental’ on the world stage
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GB NEWS
“This visit has completely undermined that, and what it has said is our doors are open, do whatever you need to do with us and we will still come begging and call you a strong and good friend. It is absolutely the wrong thing for our national security.”
Taking aim at the PM, Ms Kearns concluded if Sir Keir “cannot respect” our country, then he has “no place” leading it.
She made clear: “Britain matters on the world stage. We have that heft, we have that respect, and if you are not willing to respect our country and stand up for us, then you have no place being Prime Minister.
“They seem to see the relationship as China’s the all powerful one. We are always busy apologising for our history and being ashamed of who we are. We should be proud of who Britain is. We are a P5 country, we are a Nato state, we are fundamental.”
