Sir Keir Starmer to visit Gulf as he seeks stronger economic and defence ties with UAE and Saudi Arabia
Sir Keir Starmer will travel to the Persian Gulf today as he tries to build stronger trade ties with the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia.
In his first visit to the region as prime minister, he will aim to boost investment in the UK and deepen defence and security partnerships, said Number 10.
The two Middle Eastern countries are among Britain’s “most vital modern-day partners”, it said in a statement.
After flying to the Gulf on Sunday night, Sir Keir will meet UAE President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed on Monday.
Later that day, he will fly to Saudi Arabia where he will have talks with Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.
Sir Keir is facing calls from human rights groups to raise with Saudi leaders the rising number of executions.
The PM said: “Driving long-term growth at home requires us to strengthen partnerships abroad.”
He added that his trip will “build a network of partners” focused on “driving high-quality growth”.
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Saudi ambassador to UK talks to Sky
Trade worth billions
The UAE and Saudi Arabia are both major investors in the UK. Trade with the Emirates is worth £23bn, while trade with Saudi Arabia is worth £17bn.
More than 7,000 UK businesses export goods to Saudi Arabia, with such goods and services supporting almost 90,000 jobs across the country, while 14,000 UK businesses sent goods to UAE last year.
Saudi Arabia is also the UK’s largest defence exports market, worth £3.8bn a year to British industry.
Stability in the Middle East is set to be “high up the agenda” during the visit, including the need for an Israel-Hamas ceasefire in Gaza, the release of all hostages, and the urgent acceleration of aid into Gaza, the No 10 statement added.
‘Execution crisis’
Human rights legal group Reprieve has called on Sir Keir to raise what it described as an “execution crisis” with Saudi leaders.
Saudi Arabia has reportedly executed 300 people in 2024, its highest-ever total in one year.
Reprieve’s deputy executive director Dan Dolan said: “When Boris Johnson visited Mohammed bin Salman in 2022, three days after the mass execution of 81 people, Sir Keir Starmer was rightly scathing of Johnson’s unconditional embrace of one of the world’s most prolific executioners of protesters.
“Now he is the prime minister, he has the opportunity to address the escalating execution crisis in Saudi Arabia.”
Read more:
Trump wants Gaza ceasefire deal by the time he takes power – Qatari PM
Qatar’s ruler gets UK state visit, but questions remain over rights record
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Qatari PM to ‘stabilise’ Gaza before Trump in office
The trip comes after the state visit earlier this week by the Qatari emir who agreed a new long-term green energy partnership, deepened defence and security ties and discussed the importance of regional stability.
Following his Gulf trip, Sir Keir is expected to travel to Cyprus on Monday night.
He will have talks with President Nikos Christodoulides on Tuesday before meeting British troops deployed over Christmas.
Politics
Archbishop of York Stephen Cottrell tells Nigel Farage ‘kneejerk’ migrant deportation plan won’t solve problem
The Archbishop of York has told Sky News the UK should resist Reform’s “kneejerk” plan for the mass deportation of migrants, telling Nigel Farage he is not offering any “long-term solution”.
Stephen Cottrell said in an interview with Trevor Phillips he has “every sympathy” with people who are concerned about asylum seekers coming to the country illegally.
But he criticised the plan announced by Reform on Tuesday to deport 600,000 people, which would be enabled by striking deals with the Taliban and Iran, saying it will not “solve the problem”.
Mr Cottrell is currently acting head of the Church of England while a new Archbishop of Canterbury is chosen.
Pic: Jacob King/PA Wire
The Archbishop of York, Stephen Cottrell in 2020.
File pic: PA
Phillips asked him: “What’s your response to the people who are saying the policy should be ‘you land here, unlawfully, you get locked up and you get deported straight away. No ifs, no buts’?”
Mr Cottrell said he would tell them “you haven’t solved the problem”, adding: “You’ve just put it somewhere else and you’ve done nothing to address the issue of what brings people to this country.
“And so if you think that’s the answer, you will discover in due course that all you have done is made the problem worse.
“Don’t misunderstand me, I have every sympathy with those who find this difficult, every sympathy – as I do with those living in poverty.
“But… we should actively resist the kind of isolationist, short term kneejerk ‘send them home’.”
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What do public make of Reform’s plans?
Nigel Farage at the launch of Reform UK’s plan to deport asylum seekers. Pic: PA
Asked if that was his message to the Reform leader, he said: “Well, it is. I mean, Mr Farage is saying the things he’s saying, but he is not offering any long-term solution to the big issues which are convulsing our world, which lead to this. And, I see no other way.”
You can watch the full interview on Sunday Morning with Trevor Phillips on Sky News from 8.30am
Mr Farage, the MP for Clacton, was asked at a news conference this week what he would say if Christian leaders opposed his plan.
“Whoever the Christian leaders are at any given point in time, I think over the last decades, quite a few of them have been rather out of touch, perhaps with their own flock,” he said.
“We believe that what we’re offering is right and proper, and we believe for a political party that was founded around the slogan of family, community, country that we are doing right by all of those things, with these plans we put forward today.”
Sky News has approached Mr Farage for comment.
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