The villain whisperer.Keir Starmer's policies empowering the foes of civilisation bear the fingerprints of one man
This is an expanded version of my column in today’s Times (£) Keir Starmer has provoked much criticism and scorn over his “appeasement” trip to China. In the eyes of many, he made no real gains and left Britain looking weak and alarmingly anxious to court active threats to its own security as the price of access to Chinese markets. One notable detail was that while the foreign secretary, Yvette Cooper, was left at home, Starmer took with him the man whom insiders call “the real foreign secretary”, the national security adviser Jonathan Powell. Starmer is said to rely heavily on Powell. He sits two rooms from the prime minister and reports directly to him, as opposed to reporting to the Downing Street chief of staff as does every other special adviser. As a political appointee, he is largely protected from parliamentary scrutiny. Yet Powell has now been involved in one foreign policy mis-step after another — involving the Chagos islands, Syria, Gaza, Chinese espionage and Islamism in Britain — all of them characterised by a weakening of Britain and the west, and helping to empower bad people. And he has form in this. ... Continue reading this post for free in the Substack app |
