KEIR Starmer is missing from Prime Minister’s Questions today, with his deputy David Lammy filling in.
Lammy, who is both Deputy Prime Minister and the UK Justice Secretary, has been drafted in to field questions because the outgoing Labour leader is attending a Nato (North Atlantic Treaty Organisation) summit.
Starmer is at the presidential palace in Ankara, Turkey, where the summit is being held.
Speaking to reporters on arrival on Wednesday, Starmer urged other national leaders to show “unity and strength” – but his words have already been overshadowed by US president Donald Trump’s renewed strikes on Iran.
Ahead of the summit, Trump also reopened questions about his commitment to the alliance, insisting again that Greenland – which belongs to Nato ally Denmark – should be part of the US.
He said the dispute over Greenland earlier this year had “hurt my relationship with Nato”, and suggested the US could pull all its troops out of Europe.
Nato general-secretary Mark Rutte insisted that the US remained committed to Nato “no doubt”, but had an “expectation” that allies would “equalise” their defence spending with America.
Defence spending is likely to be a key issue at the summit, with Rutte calling on allies to present “credible” plans for reaching the target of spending 5% of GDP on defence by 2035 agreed at The Hague last year.
Starmer has been accused of heading to the summit “empty-handed” after last week’s Defence Investment Plan did not set out a clear path to reaching the Nato target.
Ministers insist that the next spending review will set out that path, but that will be a decision for Andy Burnham who is set to enter No 10 in less than two weeks.
At Wednesday’s summit, Starmer also unveiled a partnership of around 12 European nations who had agreed to spend a total of 50 billion dollars (£37 billion) developing long-range missiles.
Starmer is also expected to hold what is likely to be his final meeting with Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky on the margins of the summit, before signing a defence cooperation deal with Turkish president Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
The Prime Minister is not expected to hold a formal meeting with Trump, but will be sat next to him at Wednesday’s meeting of the North Atlantic Council.
