Starmer shrugs off Trump’s 'very dangerous' China comments as sanctions lifted

Keir Starmer shrugged off comments by US president Donald Trump that it was 'very dangerous' for the UK to do business with China, saying Trump 'was probably talking more about Canada than the United Kingdom' after Starmer's visit to Beijing this week. Starmer said his trip had been discussed with Trump's team and noted the US president has a scheduled trip to China in April.

China has lifted the sanctions it imposed on serving British MPs and peers, a move described in the live blog as a sign of warming relations after Starmer's talks with Xi Jinping. Nine UK citizens had been banned in 2021, including five Conservative MPs and two members of the House of Lords, targeted for highlighting alleged human rights violations against the Uyghur community.

The group of sanctioned parliamentarians said: 'While British citizen Jimmy Lai remains imprisoned and Uyghurs continue to suffer atrocity crimes, we take no comfort in this decision and will not be silenced,' and called for 'urgent assurances from the government' and meetings with the prime minister on return.

Commons Speaker Sir Lindsay Hoyle said he would 'reflect on the implications' of the easing of sanctions and that he was 'unfortunately' only made aware of the change through media reports. Some parliamentarians expressed scepticism about a diplomatic reset.

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