{
  "$type": "site.standard.document",
  "bskyPostRef": {
    "cid": "bafyreid3cdht2tx6ye6b2ctu6h6ugyxzxyr476nnbxdr3bor2e74lrgmh4",
    "uri": "at://did:plc:oznbnvgr7dmvddiyvr7dih52/app.bsky.feed.post/3mhx67lh27ut2"
  },
  "coverImage": {
    "$type": "blob",
    "ref": {
      "$link": "bafkreidsol7jz25v7stdocanrdraurov5kfx6sgxnpz2leca24yitw3hgu"
    },
    "mimeType": "image/jpeg",
    "size": 75736
  },
  "path": "/politics/politics-news-latest-keir-starmer-labour-foreign-trips-cost-reform-nigel-farage-kemi-badenoch-tories",
  "publishedAt": "2026-03-26T07:37:37.000Z",
  "site": "https://www.gbnews.com",
  "tags": [
    "has the full write up here.",
    "reporter Dan McDonald has the full story here.",
    "The GB News Editorial Charter"
  ],
  "textContent": "\n\n\nNew figures have suggested Sir Keir Starmer's foreign visits have cost taxpayers £4.2million after less than two years in Downing Street.\n\nAccording to Cabinet Office data, in the final three months of 2025 alone the Prime Minister went on eight international visits at a cost to the public purse of £1.4million.\n\nSome of the eyewatering expenditures include Sir Keir's trade mission to India, on a commercial flight, which cost £341,680 while his visit to the G20 world leaders' gathering in South Africa cost £368,040.\n\nTaxPayers' Alliance spokesman William Yarwood said: \"Taxpayers are getting tired of the Prime Minister's rank hypocrisy, particularly on the question of foreign travel.\n\n\"Starmer was judge, jury and executioner on the matter of Tory travels yet is more than happy to max out the credit card for his own foreign excursions. The Prime Minister needs to start practising in power what he preached in opposition.\"\n\nA Government spokesman said: \"All PM travel is done with consideration to security requirements and value for taxpayers, and is central to rebuilding Britain's global influence and keeping people safe through stronger alliances.\n\n\"These trips have helped secure billions in investment for the UK and tens of thousands of jobs, while strengthening our security, protecting British interests overseas and delivering real benefits for people at home.\"\n\n_**_FOLLOW BELOW FOR LIVE UPDATES THROUGHOUT THE DAY…_**_\n\n### Shadow Business Secretary warns Britain has 'no seat' at the table\n\n\n\n\nShadow Business Secretary Andrew Griffith has warned Britain does \"not have a seat at the table\" as he lamented the state of the British armed forces.\n\nWhen asked if the Conservatives support the Liberal Democrat plan to \"walk away\" from global talks about the war in Iran, the senior Tory told GB News: \"I have no idea if there were talks underway or with whom or when.\n\n\"One of the great tragedies, I think is the much depleted UK armed forces, brilliant though the people who serve are, means in situations like this which of course impact us all, [is that] we do not have a seat at the table.\"\n\n### Senior Lib Dem says Donald Trump's war in Iran is 'illegal'\n\n\n\n\nA senior Liberal Democrat has expressed concern over the ongoing war in Iran and what it could mean for motorists at the pumps.\n\nThe party's health spokeswoman Helen Morgan told GB News: \"Obviously we're no fans of the Iranian regime. We've repeatedly called for the prescription of the Revolutionary Guard there. But ultimately, this war is illegal.\n\n\"There was no sort of immediate provocation for Donald Trump to attack Iran. We're really worried about the impact that this is going to have in the UK on people who are already really struggling with the cost of living.\n\n\"I think a lot of people are extremely worried about what soaring oil prices are going to mean for them as we get later on into the year when energy prices go up.\n\n\"Of course, they're already seeing it at the petrol pumps and expecting it to feed through into all sorts of other types of inflation, particularly food. So we really want to see this come to an end when no fans of the of the Iranian regime. But we have to think of the worldwide consequences of this conflict.\"\n\n### Labour does not believe Iran has plans to attack UK, says John Healey\n\n\n\n\nDefence Secretary John Healey has stressed Labour does not believe Iran has any plans to attack the UK, but declined to rule out that the country has the capability to do so.\n\nAsked repeatedly on Sky News whether Iran could reach London with missile strikes, he said: \"We have no assessment of Iranian plans to strike London.\"\n\nPressed further on whether the country has the capability to strike London, he said: \"What I’m saying, and trying to reassure people is, that we’ve got no assessment that Iran has any plans to attack.\n\n\"But we have the resources, we have the alliance in place to be able to defend Britain, and we do that with allies, and we do that with Nato.\n\n\"As far as Iran goes, they’re demonstrating a capacity to hit across the Middle East, we see the same tactics and technologies that we see employed by Russia in Ukraine, and this is the hidden hand of Putin in both conflicts.\"\n\n### Reform UK calls for petrol VAT to be slashed after Iran war price rises\n\n\n\n\nRobert Jenrick will call on Chancellor Rachel Reeves to halve VAT on petrol for three months in the face of rising oil prices caused by the Iran war.\n\nReform UK said the move would reduce pump prices by 12p a litre for petrol and 14p a litre for diesel, at a cost to the taxpayer of £1.5billion.\n\nSince the outbreak of the Iran war, prices have increased by around 15p a litre for petrol and 30p a litre for diesel.\n\nMr Jenrick, Reform’s economic spokesman, is expected to make the call on a visit to a petrol station in Dover, where he will offer drivers 5p off fuel.\n\nThe visit follows a similar stunt by party leader Nigel Farage earlier this month as part of Reform’s campaign against the Government’s plan to reverse the temporary 5p cut to fuel duty introduced after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in 2022.\n\n### WATCH: 'Far-fetched' to suggest McSweeney phone theft linked to Mandelson files, says Sir Keir Starmer\n\n\n\n\n### Here's what's happening today in Westminster and beyond\n\n\n\n\nGood morning from all of us on the GB News Politics Team. Here's what's happening today in Westminster and beyond:\n\nSir Keir Starmer is in Helsinki for a Joint Expeditionary Force (JEF) conference, with Russia's war on Ukraine on the table, while Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper is in France for a G7 meeting for talks about the ongoing crisis in the Middle East.\n\nThis morning, the Prime Minister said it is \"a little bit far-fetched\" to suggest the theft of his former chief of staff Morgan McSweeney’s phone was in any way linked to the release of files on Lord Peter Mandelson.\n\nShabana Mahmood's new measures on migration will take effect today as part of Labour's push to crack down on asylum claims. GB News Assistant News Editor Jack Walters has the full write up here.\n\nCloser to home, we've got a barrage of election launches today, with Reform UK officially starting their local campaign with a rally in Sunderland tonight.\n\nNorth of the border, the SNP, Scottish Conservatives and Scottish Labour will all getting their campaigns underway this morning for the Holyrood election.\n\nKeeping it local, Labour is set to axe 800 councillors and shut down 43 councils across England within the next two years. Our reporter Dan McDonald has the full story here.\n\nIn the Commons today, there'll be debates on transport accessibility for disabled people and support for Gurkha veterans, while long serving Tory MP David Davis has the adjournment debate on Cheshire Police’s conduct over the Lucy Letby case.\n\nHere on GB News, we'll be joined by Defence Minister Al Carns, Shadow Business Secretary Andrew Griffith and Liberal Democrat health spokeswoman Helen Morgan.\n\n###\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n**Our Standards: The GB News Editorial Charter**",
  "title": "Keir Starmer's 39 foreign trips cost British taxpayers £4.2m after less than two years in office"
}