Sky News reporter Sam Coates has been on the receiving end of a social media drubbing for questioning whether the prime minister is “out of the country too much” as he attempts to repair Britain’s tarnished reputation on the international stage.
The broadcaster’s chief political correspondent noted that Sir Keir Starmer has spent 22 days on overseas trips since the start of September, including visits to Washington, Europe and Azerbaijan for the Cop29 summit.
Starmer also met with Emmanuel Macron this week in a rendezvous that has been dubbed “pointless” by right-wing commentators but widely accepted as a sensible and pragmatic move by people elsewhere.
Questioned en route to Baku over why he is spending so much time overseas, the PM told reporters that the economy and border control are his two main priorities.
“I think the key question for me is what am I spending my time on, wherever I am. The two key priorities for me on all of these engagements with our partners is: our economy and economic growth, and border control and border security – they are the two dominant themes.”
But that hasn’t stopped Coates from questioning whether the UK’s newly-elected leader should be staying put.
Responding to his latest podcast, Lewis Goodall hit back at questions over Starmer’s movements, describing them as “risible”.
Jacob Collier, meanwhile, says Starmer is simply doing his job by getting on with his administration’s priorities, and Graham Lambert compared the trips to Boris Johnson’s old jaunts to places such as Greece, Slovenia and Mustique.