If it’s Tuesday, it must be Paris. In the past few days, a whirlwind foreign tour has given Sir Keir Starmer the chance to pose as Britain’s prime minister in waiting, ahead in the polls and probably heading towards Downing Street next year. A visit last Thursday to The Hague, where he held talks with Europol officials, was followed by a weekend trip to Montreal, where discussions took place with Canada’s prime minister, Justin Trudeau.
Easily the most significant appointment in the Labour leader’s diary was Tuesday’s tête-à-tête with Emmanuel Macron in the Élysée. Protocol dictated that no television footage of the meeting would appear, given Sir Keir’s status as an opposition leader. But this was about much more than looking the prime ministerial part. For one thing, if a future Labour government is to make good on its pledge to “make Brexit work”, French goodwill will be crucial. Mr Macron’s agreement to meet the Labour leader offered a first opportunity to test his ideas regarding future relations with the European Union.
