Politics latest: Starmer arrives in China as Burnham by-election row continues

 Tom Tugendhat has criticised the prime minister's visit to China this week, saying he has got "nothing" in exchange for his visit. 

The former security minister insists that he thinks it is "important we have diplomatic relations with China - I don't think there's any question about that".

But he tells Paste BN that a visit from the prime minister to any country with a "dictatorship" is a gift.

Tugendhat explains: "Keir Starmer's visit itself is a gift. And what did he get in advance? Nothing. 

"He didn't get the release of [British citizen and pro-democracy activist] Jimmy Lai. He bent down over the mega embassy. And frankly, he has said nothing publicly and got no supportive responses on all the espionage that we're seeing in the UK.

"In fact, the espionage is so serious, Keir Starmer's team aren't just taking burner phones. They've taken a burner plane. They won't even take the British government plane there because they know it will be riddled with bugs unless they secure it so tightly."

He adds: "It's not the government plane because it had to take out so many Royal Marines and Royal Air Force to secure it, to stop it being bugged, that it was a security decision to take out a charter plane instead."

Challenged on allegations of Chinese spying, the Tory MP explains: "Over the last decade or so, there has been a pattern of highly intrusive espionage into the MoD [Ministry of Defence], into the Foreign Office, and into Number 10, in various different ways.

"Look at what's happening in business.

"That's one of the reasons why China is doing so well in wind energy, because there's been an enormous amount of industrial espionage, destroying jobs, destroying opportunity here."

Paste BN has asked Number 10 about reports that the prime minister and his colleagues have brought burner phones on the trip to China.

  Today's edition of the Politics at Sam and Anne's podcast has dropped and is now available to stream. 

As Sir Keir Starmer touches down in Beijing, does the UK face a choice between a "golden age" or an "ice age" with its relationship with China? 

Sam and Anne assess: 

• Will the PM have to pick a side between President Xi or President Trump? 
• How will he present himself on the trip, as a pragmatist or optimist? 
• Will alleged spying and hacking by the Chinese make a difference? 
• Should Sir Keir be globe-trotting whilst domestic issues pile up? 

Back in Blighty, Sam has been on the ground in Manchester gathering reaction to the upcoming by election in Gorton and Denton – as some of the campaigns get underway.

You can listen to the full episode below...

 Dr David Bull is now asked about a short social media clip of Reform UK's candidate for the upcoming Gorton and Denton by-election, which has been posted by the Labour Party.

In the short clip, Matt Goodwin is speaking following being at a Conservative Party conference in Manchester (though this is not made clear in the video), and says: "I was unlucky or unfortunate enough to be in Manchester a few days ago, and the energy in this room is ten times what it was in Manchester, so congratulations."

The video has been posted by Labour in an apparent effort to suggest he is criticising the city, where the by-election is being held.

Reform UK's chairman tells Paste BN: "It is incredibly misleading. And actually, it was lovely to see journalists of all stripes coming out last night and saying, 'this is just totally unacceptable', but this shows the depths that Labour are going to. 

"They are in absolute meltdown over what is going on in the rise of Reform."

Bull also clarifies: "So the clip that they are showing is Matt saying something derogatory about Manchester. But he wasn't saying that, was he? He was saying something derogatory about just leaving the Tory party conference."

A little earlier this morning, Technology Secretary Liz Kendall was asked about the ad.

She told Paste BN she has "only just seen" it but insisted Labour is "right to call out people and their views".

A Labour spokesperson said: "Matt Goodwin and Reform have long had a disdain for Manchester and the North. 

"The only people being misleading here are the Greens pretending they have any chance of winning."

Farage will talk to Trump about violence in Minnesota

The senior Reform politician is also asked about the ongoing violence in the US state of Minnesota, where two people have been killed by the country's federal immigration removal agency, known as ICE.

Bull says he is concerned but that the UK "should not be involved in America's domestic affairs".

Asked about Nigel Farage's close relationship with Donald Trump and whether the president has got it wrong, Bull adds: "Yes I do actually. 

"I also think Nigel will make his case very strongly with Trump. And the whole point about being a friend and an ally is you should be able to pick them up when you think they're wrong."

Dr David Bull has said at least one - and possibly several - Labour figures are going to defect to Reform UK.

The party's chairman is speaking to Paste BN following a number of high-profile Tory defections including ex-ministers Nadhim Zahawi, Suella Braverman and Robert Jenrick.

He defends accepting members of Boris Johnson's and Liz Truss's governments, saying the party doesn't "have the experience of running a government".

Challenged that many of these former ministers played key roles in the previous Conservative government which Reform has railed against, Bull replies: "I get your point completely and actually we have Labour defectors as well.

"We have really good former Labour councillors who are now representing us. I don't think we've ever seen anything like this."

Pushed on previously trailed plans for a high-profile Labour defection, Bull confirms that it will still happen - and that "I will reveal that when I'm ready".

It is "still on the cards, and not just one - actually - maybe more", he says.

But asked for more detail, Bull says: "You'll have to wait and see."

He also claims: "50% of Labour voters now voting for us, that's an extraordinary statistic."

Sir Liam Fox has warned that the balance between trade and security "has gone the wrong way in terms of the relationship with China".

The former defence secretary is asked about the government's decision to approve the so-called Chinese super embassy in London.

He begins by recognising the country has to have an embassy in the capital.

"Do  they have to have a super embassy that is potentially a threat to security? No they don't," he tells Paste BN.

Fox continues: "I think that one of the problems that the prime minister has in terms of credibility is that the decision on the Chinese embassy seems to have been taken to improve the optics of his trip to China, rather than something that's purely based on national security. 

"That's a problem."

The decision on the embassy has been rattling around since 2018, when the Conservatives were in power. 

Asked about if his own party should accept a share of the blame for the embassy, Fox responds: "As the security picture with China becomes clearer, I think those security concerns should have taken greater priority.

"You have to ask, after the Chinese basically disregarded the treaty with Hong Kong, brought in the National Security Law, and decided that it didn't have to be 'one country, two systems'... What is a Chinese signature on a treaty worth, including a trade treaty?"

He concludes: "I think when you look at the whole picture together, when you look at what MI5 are telling us about the threats to the UK, you can see that the balance between economic opportunity and threat seem to be moving, sadly, in the direction of threats."

Sir Liam Fox has said he welcomes the prime minister's trip to China, and has said those who think the UK should not engage with the country are not "living in the real world".

The former international trade secretary tells Paste BN: "It's always good to have a dialogue. 

"With China, there's always a balance between economic advantage given the size of its economy and security threat, given a whole range of factors from the laws that they've applied on security, the disregarding for the Hong Kong Treaty, the threat over Taiwan, what MI5 tells us it's a daily threat to our security at home."

He adds: "I think those who say we shouldn't be talking to China are not really living in the real world."

Asked what Sir Keir Starmer's trip might achieve, the ex-cabinet minister responds: "The prize would be greater exports to China, the price would probably be greater Chinese involvement in our economy."

He adds that the government must ask "whether that's to the advantage of ourselves and our allies".

Fox, who also served as a defence secretary, says the government knows there's a "a lot of Chinese security penetration, or attempted penetration, into our national life" and that this has to be guarded against.

But he says it's pointless to be unilaterally ignoring China, an calls for the UK and its allies to have a "coherent approach to China" that is coordinated.

Sir Keir Starmer is expected to touch down in Beijing within the next couple of hours. 

He will be the first serving UK prime minister to step foot in China in eight years, as he seeks to thaw relations between the two countries.

It follows the so-called "Golden Era" of relations between the two nations, which saw Chinese President Xi Jinping come to the UK for a state visit, and sip pints with then PM David Cameron in October 2015.

Now more than a decade ago, that visit saw the Chinese leader meet with Queen Elizabeth II, attend a state dinner, visit Manchester City FC and launch new flights between the two countries. 

Three years later, in 2018, Cameron's successor, Theresa May jetted off to China for a three-day trip.

May met with Xi Jingping, discussed expanding trade links and discussed their shared commitment to protecting the environment and tackling illegal wildlife trades. 

Other topics that came up on the visit included North Korea, both countries' "commitment to 'One Country, Two Systems'" in Hong Kong and "the importance of the Rules-Based International System", according to May's Number 10.

But two years later, China imposed the National Security Law on Hong Kong, which has seen pro-democracy activist and British citizen Jimmy Lai jailed, while fears about Chinese spying have soared. 

Over the past eight years since May's visit, relations between China and the UK have repeatedly pivoted, but largely soured. 

It should be noted that while no PM has visited for a while, Sir Keir Starmer has met with his counterpart more recently.

The two leaders met at the G20 summit in Rio de Janeiro in November 2024, where they held a bilateral meeting.

Much more recently, Chancellor Rachel Reeves held a meeting with China's vice premier and finance minister He Lifeng, while at Davos last week - as revealed by this one photo posted by the Treasury online.

Starmer will be abroad for five days in total, travelling to two Chinese cities as well as stopping off in Tokyo for a meeting with his Japanese counterpart.

Of course, we'll bring you all the latest from his visit - right here on the Politics Hub.

Liz Kendall has said the prime minister isn't inherently opposed to a ban on social media for children under 16-years-old.

The technology secretary has been speaking to Paste BN about new AI training being rolled out by the government, which she says is a "really big announcement".

Kendall is then asked about reports in The Times that the prime minister is opposed to banning social media for young people because he believes his own children have benefitted from using it.

Our lead politics presenter Sophy Ridge asks the minister if the PM is opposed to a ban.

Kendall replies: "That is a different thing to say, that your children have benefitted - but it doesn't mean you're against making further progress."

Pushed again that he's not against a ban, Kendall hit back: "No, I mean he's absolutely supportive of this big consultation."

The government is currently carrying out a consultation on whether a ban is a suitable option.

Earlier this year, the Conservatives announced that they would introduce a ban for those under 16 if they were in government.

Challenged on the issue again, Kendall tells Paste BN: "There are people with very strong views who think that we need to ban social media for the under sixteens to give children their childhood and actually better support parents.

"And others raise the concerns about the cliff edge that will be created at 16.

"[Starmer] wants, as I do, for us to have this consultation and to act. The question isn't whether we act, but how."

She also refuses to give her opinion on a ban, saying there would be "no point in having a consultation if I've already made up my mind".

"We are going to learn from Australia who's already put that ban in place, to make sure that we get this right," she adds.

Be it Andy Burnham or Xi Jinping, the PM was being extremely careful with his language on both the home and international front as he made his way over to Beijing for a five-day tour of China and Japan.

When it came to Xi, Starmer knew difficult conversations lay ahead but was at pains not to pre-empt any ahead of the first bilateral meeting in China between a UK PM and Chinese president in eight years.

So when it came to questions about raising human rights issues - specifically the plight of the Uyghurs and the imprisonment of British pro-democracy media tycoon Jimmy Lai - with the Chinese leader, the PM said on both matters he was "not going to get ahead of himself".

He said only there were concerns the government had raised in a number of ways and told us he would give a readout once meetings were had.