Sir Keir Starmer has arrived in Beijing for a high-profile visit to China vowing there will be no more “ice age.”
The government chartered a British Airways flight instead of using the governments normal plane over fears the plane could be bugged.
The Prime Minister arrived with a delegation of 60 representatives of UK businesses and cultural institutions to build bridges with China.
Speaking to reporters on the flight to Beijing, Starmer said, “The evidence there are opportunities is the fact that we’ve got so many CEOs with us on this flight, that we’ve got 60 coming out to explore those opportunities.”
He added this “reflects back at home in terms of the benefit that it brings back to the United Kingdom”.
Starmer is ignoring intelligence chiefs as the head of the Security Service (MI5) Ken McCallum warned that “Chinese state actors” are a national security threat to Britain “every day.”
Intelligence chiefs have warned that China is looking to carry out online espionage and intimidate dissidents in the UK and get involved in the UK’s public affairs.
Intelligence chiefs have warned the government “it is not realistic to expect to be able wholly to eliminate each and every potential risk” as Labour has approved the new Chinese super-embassy.
Starmer claims he would “never compromise national security” and has stated he wants “a comprehensive and consistent approach to China,” and to move away “from the golden ice age.”
The Tory leader Kemi Badenoch said she would not go to China if she was the Prime Minister, saying, “I would start by having an actual foreign policy.
“Keir Starmer is going to China, but he doesn’t have a clear agenda. He’s just running around. I know I said previously that he was like a plastic bag blowing with the wind.
We have a huge trading relationship with China, but it is also a threat to our country.
“Keir Starmer doesn’t really know how to deal with China. My worry is that he’s going there with a begging bowl.
“That super embassy should not have been approved. We have a case of alleged spying which should have gone through.
“That is what worries me. That we have a prime minister who is weak, who cannot negotiate.
