Exclusive
Biden ‘on good form’ during chat, says Starmer, as PM dismisses criticism President isn't fit to run for second term
11 July 2024, 17:16 | Updated: 11 July 2024, 17:58
Joe Biden was ‘on good form’ during hour-long chat which reaffirmed UK-US special relationship, Sir Keir Starmer has told LBC.
Listen to this article
Loading audio...
The Prime Minister dismissed criticism swirling in Democrat circles that the 81-year-old President isn’t fit to run for another term in office.
Starmer insisted that the pair covered “a lot of ground”, were talking “at pace”, and the meeting was “very good”.
It comes after George Clooney suggested the President should quit the race and let someone else have a run at the White House to have the best chance of beating Donald Trump in November.
Speaking to LBC during his first international summit as PM, Starmer said:
- There are no plans to nationalise Thames Water - but high bills should not punish people
- He’s looking at new laws for water companies could make those at the top personally responsible for failings
- High risk prisoners will be exempt from any early release scheme as he prepares emergency plans as soon as tomorrow
- England’s prisons are even worse than he thought - and the last government ‘failed’ to address crisis
- NATO is stronger than ever and Britain’s commitment unshakeable
In response to questions about whether the attacks on the President were unfair, the PM told LBC: “I saw him last night for what was going to be 45 minutes for a bilateral, it ended up being the best part of an hour.
“We went through a whole range of issues, strategic issues, global issues, we did them at pace because we needed to cover a lot of ground.
“He was on good form. And it was a real opportunity for us to talk through those issues, reaffirm the special relationship between our two countries.
“That matters to the president, that matters to me, but also to be clear about our joint resolve that NATO was important - obviously when it was created and founded and we're very proud of our part in that through the UK - but also that it's more important now than it's ever been given the global threats.
“So we covered a lot of ground. It was very good. He was on good form.”
Last night at the Oval Office the President shrugged as a reporter tried to ask him his thoughts on Mr Clooney’s intervention.
Nancy Pelosi, the former Democrat speaker, has also expressed doubts he can carry on, and said it’s time for him to make up his mind.
Starmer also declared that previous governments had failed on Britain’s water, and prisons. He insisted there were no plans for nationalising failing Thames Water, but hinted new laws could be on the cards to make sure bosses face “personal responsibility” for their failure.
Earlier today the water firm was put into special measures by Ofwat, the regulator, with several plans in place to stop a total collapse of the company, which says it has just months before it runs out of cash. They want to hike prices for millions of people by £100 a year.
He said he didn’t want to see bills rise either, saying: “I don't want bills to be so punishing for people. So we will have a plan to get to grips with that in terms of governance of water, but that requires us to deal with both the pollution and the bill side of it.”
The PM went on: “That doesn't involve nationalisation, but it does involve making sure the regulations we have are properly enforced, looking at possible further regulation, and something I'm very keen on, which is to have sort of personal responsibility from the top.
“I know from running a big organisation that when there's personal responsibility at the top it does rather focus the mind.”
The PM is preparing an emergency plan for England’s prisons to be revealed on Friday, where some may be released after serving just 40 per cent of their sentences.
Starmer promised to LBC that “we will have exemptions in place” in relation to high risk prisoners, saying he was “shocked to be in this position”.
He accused the Tories of a “complete failure” to deal with overcrowding in prisons, adding: “It's worse than I thought it was.
“Whichever political party anybody listening or watching this supports, this is a basic function that failed under the last government.
“We'll have to pick it up. We'll have to immediately put in place measures and then talk about the longer term strategy.
“But I'm beyond frustrated to have been put in this position so soon into a new administration, for a problem the last government knew was there, they knew they weren't addressing it, they were simply leaving it for somebody else to pick up the pieces.
“That is not good enough.”
Starmer insisted he’d enjoyed his first summit on the world stage so far, calling it a “great opportunity to be absolutely clear about “our unshakeable commitment to NATO.”
He said: “We were a founding member, our signature is on the treaty.
“But that alliance is more important now given the threat than it's ever been. And it's a bigger NATO with more countries. It's a stronger NATO.
“And the resolve in the room yesterday was palpable in relation to what we all need to do in relation to particularly Ukraine, but other threats as well.”
The Prime Minister was due to have bilat meetings with the leaders of Canada, Turkey, Japan and South Korea this afternoon, following on from discussions with Biden and Macron yesterday.
He also announced that Britain would continue to fund Ukraine to the sum of £3billion a year in aid for the next five years, vowing to support them for as long as it takes.
