Prime minister seeks to make best of difficult state visit by US president with package of commitments
By Bill Heaney
Accident prone Sir Keir Starmer has sought to navigate a politically treacherous state visit by Donald Trump with an announcement of £150bn of US investment in the UK, as the president was kept safely within the confines of Windsor Castle.
As thousands of protesters voiced their anger in London at a Stop Trump Coalition protest, the US president was escorted by the king and queen through a first day that ended in a state banquet but kept him out of reach of his critics.
The recent sacking of Peter Mandelson as British ambassador in Washington over his relationship with the convicted sex offender Jeffrey Epstein looms large over the historic two-day visit, with Trump himself facing questions over his dealings with the disgraced financier who killed himself in prison in 2019.
Of the £150bn, £90bn was a commitment from the private equity firm Blackstone to invest in the UK over the next decade. That was on top of £10bn the company committed to an artificial intelligence datacentre earlier this year.
Other announcements include £3.9bn from the investment firm Prologis and £1.5bn from the tech company Palantir. The government said the package would create 7,600 high-quality jobs in sectors including clean energy and life sciences.
Starmer said that “with friends like the US” the UK could “help shape the future for generations to come and make people across the country better off”, adding: “These investments are a testament to Britain’s economic strength and a bold signal that our country is open, ambitious and ready to lead.”
Downing Street sources said the £150bn of inward investment was higher than the figure for the whole of last year and that the prime minister was feeling “very upbeat” because it exceeded expectations.
One Labour MP told The Democrat: “The Prime Minister’s jacket is on a shaky nail. He could be gone before the Scottish elections next May however if the opinion of his own MPs on the Labour benches spreads through Westminster and the Scottish Parliament too. Many people in politics and the media consider him to be a lame duck who has led to Labour’s government plans being scattered to the four winds.”