Sir Keir Starmer has been accused of “absenteeism” after cosying up to the EU on his latest foreign trip to Armenia.
Speaking to GB News, political commentator Benedict Spence accused the Prime Minister of doing “anything to get out of the UK” despite several domestic issues affecting Britons.
The Prime Minister has joined fellow world leaders in Armenia at the European Political Community summit, where they will discuss a £78billion for Ukraine.
Sir Keir defended the plans, claiming “it outweighs the cost”. He also argued the continent must “move at pace” to boost defence.
Reacting to the Prime Minister’s latest trip, Mr Spence argued that Sir Keir believes he “thrives on the international stage”.
He told GB News: “He is somebody who believes he thrives on the international stage. Anything to get out of the UK in the opposite direction to all the people coming here on the small boats.
“Yerevan isn’t quite Davos, but it’s still quite nice in the springtime, I assume, otherwise they wouldn’t have all picked it, would they?
“They’re not going to go to some hellhole for this summit, these sorts of people.”
Mr Spence argued that Sir Keir’s frequent trips abroad present as “absenteeism” for Britons.
He said: “He was doing this before his Government really sort of hit the rocks.
“And now every time that he does it, as much as people might sort of sit and say, ‘well, he is the Prime Minister, he needs to go and negotiate with people’, the problem very much does strike people as being one of absenteeism.”
The political commentator accused the Prime Minister of “not being in full control” of his Government.
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Mr Spence said: “It doesn’t particularly feed well into the idea that he’s in charge of his own Government, given that so many of the problems surrounding his administration largely stemmed from this perception that people have of him.
“Which is that he’s not in full control, he’s at odds with his own civil servants, and he’s at odds with his own appointments.”
He argued: “How is it that you can actually portray to people, if you wish to save your premiership, that you have got a grip on everything that’s possibly going on if you’re never actually here?
“People will say the Ukraine war is incredibly important, Britain has played a very central role in supporting Ukraine, and that’s all true.
“But still it couldn’t have come at a worse time for the Prime Minister to actually be seen fleeing the country.”
Criticising the plans to join the EU’s loan to Ukraine, Mr Spence questioned why the UK cannot help Ukraine “on its own terms” rather than joining Europe’s cause.
He told GB News: “What’s actually the benefit in joining some massive pool in terms of giving loans out to Ukraine.
“Why can’t we just deal with the Ukrainians on our own terms and save ourselves the billion in that process?
“Britain shouldn’t have to pander to being part of a bloc in order to get things done in terms of its own foreign policy, it ought to be able to stand on its own two feet.”
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